Do You Want My Help?
by Link015
Summary: Romance Fic Archive Mia treated life like she treated a battle. Every wrong move could lead to death and you had to be quick and act on gut instinct when the time called for it. Too bad her gut decided to bolt after that confession.
1. Do You Want My Help?

Chris: I'm making this…Because I just got hit with more inspiration, this time reading entries of Erk's Journal. Old entries. When Fiora didn't want to kill Erk. Heh, anyway, hope you like. I no own Erk's Journal. Kate does. I no own Fire Emblem either. I'm kinda tired of saying that…I mean, isn't it obvious I don't own them?

* * *

"Dammit Fiora! Honestly! I don't need your help! Just leave me alone so I can study in peace!" Erk stood up in a rage, slamming his Fire tome on a desk. He glared at the teal-haired pegasus knight standing in front of him. He knew she was just trying to be nice, but hearing her voice constantly was getting on his nerves. His dark-purple hair bristled as he heard Fiora speak again.

"B-But…Erky…I'm just trying to help." Fiora trembled as she faced Erk's rage. She felt she had an obligation to help him out, since he was Lord Pent's student, after all.

"Sigh…I know…Just…Leave me alone for a while, okay? That should help." Erk sank back in his chair, his energy seemingly drained. He waved her off and sank back into reading his books again. Fiora silently closed the door and leaned on it from the other side.

"Oh…Erk…" Fiora walked away from the young mage's room, tears coming down her eyes. She stumbled into her room and slumped to her bed. 'Why do you always act like that…' She continued sobbing as someone else entered the room.

"You're crying again, Fiora? This isn't like you."

Fiora looked up to see her younger sister, Farina, staring down at her. The blue-haired pegasus knight was spinning her money bag around her index finger and grinning at her older sister. Fiora smiled and brushed her eyes. "No…It's nothing."

"Erk again, huh?"

Fiora nodded sadly. Farina sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Geez, why do you continue trying to help him. From what I can tell, he seems like a complete jerk. Go for…Eliwood. He's nice enough. Although he's kind of wishy-washy…"

"Erk isn't a jerk! I know deep down inside he's a caring, thoughtful young man!" Fiora stood up, eyes flaring. Farina backed away slowly, unused to seeing her sister angry. Fiora slowly stomped towards her sister, raising a fist. Farina got the message and quickly left the room. Now that she was alone again, Fiora went back to lying on the bed. The next to enter was Fiora's other sister, Florina. The orchid-haired girl saw her oldest sister lying on the bed and frowned.

"Um…Sister? Is anything wrong? Can I help?"

Fiora looked up again and saw Florina standing near her bed, a worried expression on her face. She was holding a small training lance in her hands. Fiora smiled. Even though she might be the youngest, Florina always wanted to help out in some way. Fiora sat on the side of the bed and motioned for Florina to join her. Florina sat down next to her sister and set the lance on the floor.

"W-what is it, Fiora?" Florina looked at her older sister.

"Weeeell…" Fiora rocked back and forth, wondering about how she could put this. "Supposed you really like this guy. You want to help him in any way you can…But every time you try to, he brushes you off and says he doesn't need you. What would you do?"

"Ah…Well…You're talking about Erk, right?"

"Wha? Is it that obvious?" Fiora looked stunned. She thought that she had concealed the truth fairly well.

"Uh…Um…Everyone's heard the shouts coming from his room…" Florina nodded.

"Oh…I see. But then, what should I do?"

"W-Well…Keep trying…It worked with me…" Florina stood up and waved her sister goodbye. Outside, she met Heath, and they went off together. Fiora heard sounds of their laughter as they left the inn they were staying at.

'Well…I'll try it out…' Fiora stood up and went to Erk's room again, knocking on the door lightly.

"Who is it?"

"It's me, Fiora."

"Oh, well…Fine, come in."

Fiora opened the door and entered. Erk was leaning on a chair, a Thunder tome open on his lap. Erk looked at her hopeful face and sighed. "What is it now, Fiora?"

"Um...Well…Can I help you?" Fiora bowed slightly and waited to see his response.

"Help again? Hah…I can manage without any help. Leave me alone…" Erk closed his Thunder tome, his taste for studying ruined. He tried to stand up but stumbled. He stood leaning on the chair, coughing. His face was pained as he was wracked by another cough. Fiora went forward and helped Erk stand.

"Wh-What's wrong? Is something the matter, Erky?" Fiora look concernedly at Erk's face, which showed signs of lack of sleep. He coughed again and motioned to his bed.

"Please…Just lay me down there…I'll be fine. Thank you…" Erk shuddered and suddenly collapsed to the floor. Fiora caught his fall and gently carried him to the bed, taking off his sweaty cape. She pulled the blankets over his haggard form and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.

'Poor Erk…He must have been studying since last night…' Fiora took one last look at Erk before closing the door and leaving him to his sleep.

---

The next morning came, and Fiora was busy cleaning the room she was staying in with her sisters. She was whistling happily as she set up the beds. Farina had already left for breakfast and Florina said she was going to go out for some food. Fiora smiled as she finished with the last bit of cleaning and decided to go down to the common room to see if she could find anything to eat. The smell of French toast hit her nose, and she knew that Karel was cooking again. Not that she minded, of course, Karel's cooking was pretty good. And also there was the fact that he would kill anyone whom he even suspected of disliking his French toast.

"Hey everyone!" Fiora entered, spotting several of the army members already there. Farina looked up from her food and waved to her sister.

"Mmph! Phello, fister!" Farina tried to swallow the food before greeting her. Fiora smiled at her younger sister's antics and looked around to see if she could find another place to sit. Eliwood and Hector were busy arguing who was the better warrior and Raven was the judge. He looked more likely to punch both of them out and say he was the best than saying that either of them was better. Fiora spotted a seat near Erk and decided to sit near him.

Erk barely moved as Fiora pulled up a seat near him. She leaned over to see what he was doing. He was picking at his food and secretly reading his magic tomes again. Fiora hissed and moved back away. Erk looked up and closed his book. He placed it on the floor and began eating his breakfast. Seeing this, Fiora cheered up and leaned over to him again, placed her head on his shoulder. "So…How are you doing, Erky?"

"Don't call me Erky." Erk didn't move his face as continued to eat his food.

Fiora sat up, saddened. "W-Well…Then how're you doing, Erk? Do you need any help? You were kind of sick yesterday…"

"I was only sick because you kept pestering me! These things wouldn't happen if you just leave me alone and stay out of my life! Go away, dammit!" Erk stood up and stalked away, leaving his food untouched. He stopped and then faced Fiora again. "You're the bane of my existence, even worse than Serra! I'd want you to help me like I'd want Nergal to make a Morph of me!" With that said, he continued his journey to his room.

Fiora sank in her chair, sobbing. Everyone else looked around, stunned by this astounding accusation. Farina leapt from her seat, wiping her lips, and stalked off, following Erk. Eliwood came over and tried to comfort Fiora, but she stood up and brushed him off. She stumbled towards her room, tears still falling from her eyes.

"Dammit! Not this again! I knew Erk wasn't that fond of attention, but he had no right to do something like that!" Eliwood slammed a fist into the table, causing people's plates to jump up. Guy, who was busy stuffing his face, looked up with a slice of French toast stuck to his face.

"Yeah, come on! We better talk some sense into them!" Hector stood up as well. He climbed over the table, eliciting several yelps and some "You oaf!"s,

"Not yet…Let Farina deal with him first. The sister always knows best." Eliwood put up an arm to stall Hector. "We'll let her handle this. And if Erk still doesn't listen to reason, then we'll make him listen."

---

Erk stomped into his room, slamming the door shut. 'Dammit Fiora! Why do you always have to be like that?!' He threw his book at the wall and knocked over some of the staves he had lined across the wall. He spun around when he heard someone break the door down. Farina was standing there, a Killer Lance in her hands and fire in her eyes. She kicked the door aside and pointed the lance at Erk.

"Give me one reason why I shouldn't gut you right now."

Erk stared calmly at the lance, which was pointed at his throat. "Simple. What you would be doing is murder. And, I believe the Ilian knights won't appreciate rumors of the…darker variety."

"Hmph." Farina lowered the lance. Erk let out a small sigh of relief and closed his eyes for a while. He heard a loud THUNK and when he opened his eyes again, the lance was embedded in the ground, a few centimeters from his feet. Erk leaped back voluntarily and then glared at Farina.

"If you've come here just to make a couple of threats, you've already proved your point. What do you want?" Erk folded his arms as he looked at the Pegasus Knight.

"I came here to ask why you're being such a…**_bastard_**…to my sister. Seriously, she's just trying to be nice. I don't understand why she even wastes energy on an asshole like you." Farina came up and started poking Erk in the chest.

"I believe I told her, I don't want her help. I'm strong enough by myself. Now, if she can't accept that-"

"Screw your strength! Dammit! You don't know how many times you owe your life to Fiora. In that battle against the Black Fang, you were walking into an ambush! And who came to save you?! Fiora did! She saved your life, and how do you repay her? You brush her off, call her worthless, say that she should leave you alone!" Farina poked Erk harder. "Do you know what you would be without her? You. Would. Be. Dead!"

Erk's mental barrier cracked a bit as Farina kept telling him of the number of times he owed her life to her. That time in Badon where she intercepted an arrow aimed for his heart. The battle in Dread Isle where she used her pegasus to shove aside a cavalier that was about to plunge a lance into his body. So many more times she had saved him, and he didn't do anything to care. His mental barrier cracked a little more, but Farina wasn't finished.

"You don't know how many times I've heard her, speaking about how "dedicated" you were, or how "brave" and "courageous" you acted in battle. Every day, when we were in our room, she would praise you. I'd grow sick in my stomach, listening to her speak of someone who doesn't even care for her in such glowing terms. Why didn't she talk with Kent? They certainly share an interest in order. Or how about Eliwood? He certainly has shown Fiora enough respect and kindness. But you! No, she had to choose you! You should be lucky that she still considers you a friend!"

Erk backed away even more, hearing the words, but unwilling to accept them. Farina had one, last barb to throw at him.

"But do you know what the worst part of this is? She's in love with you, god dammit! How, I'll never know! Last night, when you collapsed, she would take trips every…2 minutes or something just to go check up on you! And how did you respond to her today? You said _she_ was the cause of your sickness! You moron! Dammit, you broke her heart there! You simple rebukes, she could handle. Your orders to leave, she could handle. But you calling her the bane of your existence, especially after she cared for you, she could not handle…You damned idiot!" Farina continued her tirade, but Erk had stopped listening. He slumped to the floor, his eyes wide.

'She loves me? Hah…That couldn't be right…I must have heard wrong.' Erk tried to convince himself of that, but found that he couldn't. The barriers he had set up in his mind and his heart collapsed, and he started sobbing. "I-I-I-I'm sorry…Fi-Fiora…"

"Wha?" Farina stopped when she heard Erk mumble something, but she had been too involved in her tirade that she didn't hear him. She sat next to him and shook him. "What was that?"

"I said…I-I'm sorry…Fiora…" Erk continued to cry on his robes. Farina softened and placed an arm around his shoulders.

"Well, I'm glad that you finally see it…Hey, why are you apologizing to me? Clean up and speak to her face to face! That way you can start things off anew." Farina stood up smiling.

Erk nodded his thanks and slowly peeled himself off of the floor. Farina winked and gave him a thumbs-up as she headed back down to the common room. She had forgotten about her Killer Lance, however, and tripped over it, landing on the floor, face first. She picked herself up, rubbing her nose.

"That totally ruined the moment…" She continued walking towards to common room, rubbing her nose. Erk let out a small laugh as he watched her leave, and then set about washing his face.

Downstairs, Eliwood and Hector rushed up to Farina, who had just arrived. "WELL?!" Both of them yelled at her as she descended.

"Ah, no worries. He's fine, he's fine." Farina waved them off and began stuffing her face with food again.

Eliwood looked ruefully at Farina, and then at Hector. "See? A sister always knows."

---

While Farina was giving Erk a tongue-lashing, Fiora was back in her room, thinking about what she should do. Sniffing, she reached under her bed and pulled out a small package. Inside was a gift that she had hoped to give to Erk. She had tried to build enough courage to do so, but for some reason, she had never given it to him. Coming to a conclusion, she shoved the box under her bed again and began fixing her hair and making sure she looked clean.

'That's it…If Erk doesn't care about me, then I won't care about him! He can just die the next time he tries to go to show off his power! If he doesn't want my help, fine! I wont' give it to him! I'd best forget about him and move on with my life!'

---

A week passed, and they were still at the inn. However, this time, instead of being worried about how Fiora was being treated, they were worried about how Fiora was treating everyone else. Ever since what people were calling the "French Toast Incident" (Karel wasn't too fond of that name.), things had changed, not necessarily for the better. Fiora was now spending a lot of time outside, away from everyone. She still talked to everyone like nothing had happened, but whenever Erk would enter the room, she would immediately leave. Although this caused some pretty hilarious incidents, it soon started to make people worry, especially for Erk's mentality.

After Farina had…chewed him out, Erk became a lot more open with everyone. He no longer spent his whole day studying. Lord Pent and Lady Louise proclaimed this as an extraordinary development and were intensely happy with this change in his character. In fact, a lot of people were. But whenever he tried to apologize for his behavior, Fiora would leave. So everyone, excluding Erk and Fiora, for obvious reasons, decided to find a way to break this never-ending chain.

---

"Guys?" Fiora wandered in the common room. Her sisters had told her that someone wanted to meet her in the common room, and she had complied. However, there didn't seem to be anyone here. The table was set and the lights were on, however. Today's breakfast was also there. Today it was apple pie. The army members had finally gotten tired of French Toast and decided that they needed something sweet and fruity. "Come on, Farina, Florina. If this is a joke, it's in really bad taste." Fiora placed her hands on her hips, her patience wearing a little thin.

"Fiora! I've finally found you!"

Fiora spun around, alarmed. Her sisters would do this on purpose, would they? She searched around the room and spotted Erk coming towards her. Spinning towards the nearest door, she was about to go through when it slammed shut. She banged on the door furiously.

"Hey! What are you doing?!"

Someone that sounded vaguely like Eliwood answered. "You're going to talk to Erk if it takes you the whole day!"

"Fine! Be that way!" Fiora humped and headed back to where she had entered the common room. The door shut as well. She kicked at the door, hoping to break it down. "Who is it this time?!"

"Sorry sister! But we're all tired of seeing you avoid Erk! So we're keeping you in here!" Farina's voice echoed from behind the doorway. Fiora cursed and headed for another door which led to the kitchen. As expected, the door slammed shut.

"Give it up, Fiora! You won't be able to leave until you two have finally patched things up!" Another person, Hector by the sound of his voice, rang out. Fiora clenched her fists in anger and finally gave in.

"Fine! But nothing is going to change, got that?!"

From behind the doorways, the various teams snickered. Their plan involved luring both Erk and Fiora into the common room and closing all of the exits. Sure, it was inelegant, but it worked.

Fiora sank into a chair angrily, looking away as Erk approached.

"F-Fiora? I've been meaning to talk to you…" Erk walked a little closer, taking halting steps as he approached the teal-haired girl. Fiora responded by turning away from him, vowing to kill every person responsible for this.

"Cause…I've…been meaning to apologize."

Fiora's expression shifted to bewilderment and she turned to face the mage. "Apologize?"

"Um…Yeah…"

She stood up. "An apology? That's it? Just a single, lousy, apology?!"

"W-Well…Actually-"

Fiora didn't wait to hear the next part of his sentence. Picking up one of the pies, she threw it at her with all her might. It crashed into his shoulder, spraying bits and pieces of apple and pie all over his clothes and face. From outside, muffled shouts were breaking out.

"Hey! No messing with our breakfast!"

"We're still hungry, ya know!"

"Leave the food alone! It never hurt you!"

Erk stood still, his face shadowed. Fiora stalked even closer. "You've treated me like dirt! Tossed me away like a dirty dish rag! And all you can do is **_apologize_**?!"

Erk nodded slightly. "But-"

"No buts! I'm not finished speaking!" Fiora started poking Erk in the chest.

'Wow…They're a lot more alike that their looks…' Erk thought dully as he continued to watch Fiora.

"You know what? I've decided to take your advice! I'm going to leave you alone from now on! Maybe that will make you happy, huh?!"

"Fiora…"

"What is it now, huh? Want me to go throw myself down a pit or something?"

"…"

"Well?! What is it? Spit it out already!" Fiora leaned in closer. She saw Erk's lips move, but didn't hear anything come out. She leaned in even closer.

"…" Erk grabbed Fiora and kissed her on the cheek. He backed away and looked at the floor, blushing.

"E-Erk…You…Why did you do that?" Fiora touched her cheek with one of her hands, rubbing the spot where Erk had kissed her. "Well? Answer me." Her tone wasn't harsh anymore. It had become softer, and Erk was heartened to see that she wasn't making any hostile moves towards him.

"Be…Because…I realized something when Farina was…shall we say…lecturing me."

"And? What would this be?" Fiora cocked her head quizzically.

"That…I don't know how I would live without you in my life…" Erk chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. "I guess…that I got so used to your presence that…I grew…fond of you."

"Fond? Is that it?" Fiora adopted a girlish and whining tone in her voice.

"W-Well…Fine! I fell in love with you, okay?! I just didn't know how to show it…So…When I was trying to find you, I was trying to apologize…and explain." Erk looked at the ground again. "So…I'm sorry…and…here." Erk placed a long, thin box in Fiora's hand and sat on a chair.

Fiora slowly opened it and gasped when she saw what was inside. "Oh…Erk…It's beautiful!" Lying inside of the box was a necklace made of sapphires and diamonds. At the center was a small pendant shaped in the form of a pegasus soaring through the sky. "Oh, Erky! It's lovely!" She sprang at him and enveloped him in a big hug. "Oh…I can call you Erky, right?"

"Heh…Of course…Fiora." Erk hugged her as well, smiling happily.

"Is it over?" Someone from outside said loudly. "I can't hear anything. Do you think she killed him?"

"No, you moron!"

"Oh…Well, soooorry!"

Erk loosened Fiora grip and gestured towards the doors. "Should we let them come in?"

"Sure." Fiora shrugged and hugged Erk again as he stood up.

"The doors are open guys! Come on in!" Erk shouted at the doorways, which burst open amid lots of cheering.

"Yay! Finally!" Everyone bustled through the doors, going to give congratulations to the new couple. Eliwood, Farina, and Hector stayed behind, watching the celebration.

"Haha! I told you my plan would work!" Farina grinned mischeviously at both of them before dashing off to join the festivities.

Eliwood turned to Hector. "See? A-"

Hector held up a hand. "Yes, yes, I know. A sister always knows…Sigh…I was certain my plan was better."

Eliwood looked skeptically at Hector. "What? Knock both of out and when they came to, knock some sense into them?"

"Well, it could work!"

---

Erk turned from reading a book when he heard someone knock. He spun around and saw Fiora standing in the doorway. He smiled and put his book away. "Come in! Come in!"

Fiora stepped through, smiling. "Still didn't get that door fixed?"

"Eh…Well, I've never gotten around to it. And I haven't gotten Farina's lance outta my floor. Even Hector couldn't pry it out." Erk looked dismally at the lance shaft lodged in the floor and at the broken door lying next to it. Fiora walked up to him and hugged him from behind. "Hey…I bet that we could get both of them done…Do you want my help, Erky?"

Erk smiled. "Of course…I would love to have you help me."

* * *

Chris: Blah…This is long. Too long. Eh, I might actually make this into a multi-chaptered fic if I feel like it. Tell me if you want to write sequels for this or not…And if I do write additional chapters, I don't know if they're just going to focus on Erk and Fiora. Ahem, anyway…since I feel that the Fire Emblem section is…well, it's really not lagging, but it ain't doing marvelously either. So, I'm going to arrange a little fic contest. Rules in my profile. Have fun! 


	2. Just Gotta Keep Trying, My Friend

Chris: Well, not sure if you remember, but I did say that I was going to make "Do You Want My Help?", my romance fiction archive, so here's the new chapter for it. Hope you like it. And it's like two romance stories in one.

**A fan of fire emblem: **Thanks, and Erk x Fiora is believable. And I did update Farina's Diary, but it got nuked and deleted.

**Jinn the Master Sage: **Well, you just click on my SN to view the profile. And I'm glad you like the fic.

**HikariUsa: **Thanks for the compliments, and here's an update.

**Inferno-Hero: **Yeah…Sorry…I forgot that you guys were planning one. Ooops.

**Ivanfanatic: **Glad you liked it…And Erk can be nice! Just…maybe not always…But he can! He's human too!

Farina: No he's not.

Shut up.

**Kiyoko-chan: **Thanks for the compliments, and thank you for reviewing.

**Nightmare: **I believe that I am the proud writer of the only Erk x Fiora fic in the history of Fire Emblem. I hope. And here's your second chapter.

**Sword of Seals: **Sorry about that…And they were in an inn, not outdoors. So yeah.

**Eris of Thane: **Glad you like it. Here's another one-shot thing that I hope sounds complete.

Chris: And just so you know, this story has the pairing from the last chapter. Just not the same situation or history. Just imagine that Erk x Fiora has been a viable pairing and has happened. Other than that, no relation to the last chapter. This is an archive, not a full-fledged story. Just making sure you guys know that. Oh, and just to tell you, this is really, really long.

* * *

**Just Gotta Keep Trying, My Friend**

"Kent, my friend! What are you doing today?" Sain, a brown-haired cavalier with green armor walked up to his red-haired companion. Sain slapped his friend on the back. "Today is a great day, right?"

"Sain, what did you do now?" Kent, wearing a face of much suffering, turned to his friend. The sun shone off of his blood-red armor. "I hope you didn't molest any of the female villagers."

Sain looked shocked. "Kent, how could you suggest such a thing about your best friend?" But then he grinned. "Ah, I know you don't mean it." Sain ruffled his partner's hair. "Anyway, I wanted to talk to you about something."

Kent pried Sain's hands off of his hair and faced his friend. "A problem? Well, of course you can talk to me. What is it?"

"Nah…This is more of a personal problem. You know…Girl stuff." Sain chuckled. "Normally I wouldn't care if people heard…But I'd rather not let that happen, you know? This is important."

"Oh, of course. Come on, we'll speak in my room." Kent led the cavalier towards the inn where they were staying. They had just returned from Nabata, and Hector had decreed that the army deserved a couple of weeks off. So currently, they were in Ostia, drinking, fooling around, and staying in the castle and city inns. Currently, however, everyone was out partying. Or passing out drunk, as the tastes may be. So the inn was completely deserted when Sain spilled his problems to his friend.

"Okay…See, I have this friend, right?" Sain sat on a chair and turned it so it faced Kent.

"Yeah…You're talking about yourself, aren't you?" Kent folded his arms. "Come on, I've heard that a lot."

Sain grinned sheepishly. "Well, yeah. It's me. Anyway, there's this girl I like."

"You like a ton of girls, Sain. You'll have to be more specific."

"Good point. Well, this girl is beautiful, of course, and charming, pleasant to be with, witty, and…Did I mention beautiful?"

"Sain, you say this to every girl. While that rules out some people…Like Hannah, it doesn't really help."

"Ah…Sigh…" Sain looked at the floor. "Well, actually, Florina attracts me the most."

"Florina!" Kent leaned forward. "You mean the girl who is deathly afraid of guys and is probably most afraid of you? Hahahahaha! Sorry, but what makes you think you have chance?"

"Aw, come on, Kent! Don't laugh! I'm completely serious here!" Sain looked pleadingly at his friend. Kent calmed down.

"I'm sorry, Sain. I was just kidding. Anyway, what was it?"

"You know what it is! I need advice on how to get her to notice me more! Of course, I usually wouldn't go to you for romance advice…But then if I did my usual things, Lyn and Florina's sisters would hurt me." Sain moaned in his hands.

"Ah…I see…What have you tried so far?" Kent scratched his chin, thinking of how Sain could approach the shy pegasus knight.

"Oh. Well, there were the lavish compliments…"

"I know that wouldn't work. You can't compliment Florina like that! Come on, she's shy, Sain. You know those types of things would just scare her more."

"Then there were the gifts."

"Gifts? Did you say who they were from?"

"Of course!"

"….What were the gifts?"

"Oh, you know. Perfume, clothes, stuff like that."

"Eh, I guess that's better than your overbearing compliments." Kent ran his hand through his hair. "Is that it?"

"I did try asking Fiora for her help, but then she was too busy helping Erk. She did say that if I made Florina cry, she's break my arms. And as for Farina, well, she gave me some advice…But then she threatened to break my neck if I did anything bad to Florina. As if I'd do that!"

"Well, sorry to say this, Sain, but you've gotten the image of being a womanizing pervert throughout the camp."

"What? Me? Dear, young, handsome, darling Sain?" Sain gasped. "Why…I'm offended! Just because everyone is so beautiful doesn't mean I'm a pervert! Or a womanizer! That's just how those girls are! Beautiful!"

Kent sighed and shook his head. "Right. And how many girls have you tried to get a date with?"

"Hmmm…" Sain thought and started counting them off on his fingers. "Fiora, Farina, Rebecca, Priscilla, Lyn, Serra, and some various others from Caelin and Ostia."

"Sain! That's almost all of the girls in the camp!"

"Really? Now that I think about it...Wow! That _is_ almost all of the girls!" Sain brightened. "Too bad none of them ever accepted."

"Think about it, Sain! I mean, girls don't like it when they see you eyeing other girls! Would you like it if you saw Florina looking at some other guy….Like Hector or something?"

"HECTOR! That big oaf? He doesn't possess even half of the charm that I have!" Sain pounded his chair angrily, outraged at this comment.

"Uh…While that may be true…I bet that you wouldn't like it if you caught Florina gazing at Hector."

"You're damn right!"

"Good. You understand. Now, how about I propose a deal with you?"

"Well…Sure, Kent. What is it?"

"I'll help you get information on Florina and see if I can _influence_ her to like you more."

"Great!"

"Well, in return, I want you to help me out with my own relationship problem." Kent looked at the ground. "I have no idea why I'm coming to you for help…But I might as well."

Sain's eyes sparkled as he leaned closer. "Oh? And who might this lucky lady be?"

Kent's face reddened. "Um…Uh…It's…uh…Priscilla."

Sain grinned widely. "Priscilla! Kent, my friend, you've made a good choice! With that flame-red hair and scrumptious figure! Why, if I wasn't going for Florina myself, I'd go for her again!" Sain sighed romantically. "Such a lovely angel Priscilla is. But Florina is better."

"Right, Sain, right. Anyway, help me with Priscilla, and I'll help you with Florina. Deal?"

"Deal, my friend! Ah…But first, I would like to know why you want me to help you with Priscilla. I mean, aren't you perfectly capable of asking her by yourself?"

"Why don't you tell me why you like Florina first?"

"I asked you first. So I have higher priority."

"Not fair."

"Tough beans, Kent."

"Grrr…Fine."

"Hee hee…So Kent?" Sain leaned forward, his eyes gleaming mischeviously. "I bet it's something deeply romantic that you hide behind your dutiful façade! Staying true to your duty! Only taking peeks at her on your free time, but never approaching because of your stations! How romantic that is!" The cavalier's eyes were shining, imagining Kent as a duty-bound hero, watching his only love from the sidelines.

"Sain! You sound like a moron!" Kent's face grew red, and he pushed his partner back in his seat. "Well…" His voice dropped, and Sain had to lean forward again so he could hear. "Uh..." Kent's voice dropped even lower. "You might be right."

"What was that?" Sain grinned. He had caught part of that, but he just wanted to hear it in full.

"I said you might be right, okay? Geez, give me a break!" Kent exploded, tired of Sain's teasing. "Yeah, yeah, you're right! I'm that guy who always minds his job! Unlike you!"

"Why, I never!" Sain looked offended again. "Name the last time you saw me slacking off at my post!"

"You sure you want me to?"

"Go right ahead! I bet you can't even name three!" Sain folded his arms, smiling broadly, obviously thinking that Kent _couldn't_ name three.

"Well, there was that time when we were fleeing from the Taliver bandits and were staying in that run-down castle. I seem to recall that you were sleeping on guard duty."

Sain's smile faltered, but he regained his composure. "That's just one!"

"And also when we were at Caelin Castle and you were distracted by your rounds by one of the city girls. Um…Michelle. Was that her name? I'm not sure if you succeeded in wooing the girl, but I do remember a couple of…shall we say, _disturbing_, noises coming from your room."

"Argh! Fine! That's two!"

"And recently, I've caught you sneaking peeks at Florina in battle, on guard duty, in the girl's baths…"

"Hey! How'd you know? And…Why were you near the girl's baths anyway? Looking at Priscilla?"

Kent flushed again. "I was not! I was…uh…Just there to make sure you weren't doing anything perverted! But enough of this! You still haven't told me why you like Florina the most!"

"That's right…" Sain shrugged. "It's relatively simple, you see. I mean, counting all of the lovely girls in our army…Not really counting Hannah cause…Well, you know why. Anyway, I've mulled over the various girls in my mind for quite a while. First on my list of girls was Lyn."

"You will call her by her title, Lady Lyndis!"

"Aw, what are you going to do? Arrest me because I didn't call her that? She lets everyone else call her Lyn."

"But we are her vassals, and serve under her! It is only right that we call her by her full title!"

"Keep going on with those rules and soon one will bite you in the back."

"Hmph."

"Getting back to track here…_Lady Lyndis_, there, happy? I called her Lady Lyndis."

"Just continue with the story." Kent sighed and waved Sain on.

Sain nodded. "You've got to admit, Lyn sure has a great figure. And her personality isn't bad either. It's not like you'd want to kill her or kill yourself after spending a lot of time with her. I mean, she is a little short-tempered…But she does have it where it counts. And she's simply gorgeous…Too bad I heard she's got her sights set on Eliwood."

"Oooh…Beaten down by Lord Eliwood. Boy, sucks to be you."

"Yeah, I know that. Next up is Florina, but I'll get back to her later. Let's get to our resident healers, Serra and your lovely Priscilla. Serra is…interesting. Not bad to look at, truly. She might get you annoyed after a period of time…Speaking from experience here. But I thought about it after a while, and while she is fun to hang around with, she's really not what I look for in a perfect girl."

"You want bigger breasts or something?"

"Yes. Wait…Hey! Kent!" Sin whined, unhappy at this attack on his character. Kent was too busy laughing in order to say anything else, so Sain just went back to his story.

"Hmph. Anyway, Priscilla was next…She was actually second in my little list of girls I should try to marry…But then now that you want her…Eh, I'll leave you two alone. Betcha I won't be the only one with noises coming out of his room next year at Caelin, huh?"

"Sain! That is entirely inappropriate!" Kent stopped laughing and looked angry enough to punch Sain in the head and then knock him around with his sword. Sain held up his hands as some sort of truce, and continued.

"Anyway, Priscilla is a ravishing beauty. Of course, I'm not sure if she's really interested in a guy at the moment, but I'm sure if you save her life a couple of times, it'll all work out. Because from what I've figured out, I believe all she wants is a man that will protect her. Apparently, I don't fit that bill, because she didn't really warm up to me. But hey, you can be her shining knight in armor instead! Or is it knight in shining armor…? One of those."

Kent perked up. "Oh really? Hmm…Well, I never knew that. Thank you, Sain."

"My pleasure. Next up is that charming village girl, Rebecca. Tremendous cook. Almost as top-notch as Lowen's cooking. And that's saying a lot. And she's very easy on the eyes too. Very nice, charming, and a down-to-earth girl. Great hunter as well. Um…But I don't think she likes me because someone spread rumors that I was selling spots for spyholes for the girl's baths. I did nothing of the sort, I tell you. That was all Merlinus. I just made the holes."

"More information than I needed to know, Sain. Go on."

"Oh, right! Next up are Florina's sisters, Fiora and Farina. Fiora is just like you, actually! Well, except that she's a girl, has teal hair instead of orange, and is a pegasus knight. And she's a little taller too…I think. But other than that, you two are almost alike! I would have thought that you two would have become a couple almost instantly!"

"Ah…We might have…But, you know Erk, right?"

"Yeah, the mage kid, right? Reads way too much? Has to have someone force him to eat?"

"Well, apparently Erk and Fiora are an item already."

"And I missed this! Impossible! I would have been notified about this! Or at least seen it happening!"

"Well, they keep their relationship under wraps, okay? Don't want people like you bothering them."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what it sounds like. Farina?"

"Ah yes, the last of those lovely sisters. A lot more aggressive than the shy Florina or the stoic Fiora. She has a deep desire for money that probably branches off of the desire for safety and happiness for her sisters. Extremely forward, and she won't mind kicking you in the balls if you bother her. Luckily, I am not one of those people who have to suffer that kick. I hear she kicks really, really hard."

"I'll…uh…keep that in mind, Sain. Carry on."

"And finally that lovely Florina. With her long, orchid-colored hair, her slim figure, her almost childlike innocence…Ah, she portrays the perfect picture of an angel! An angel come down from heaven to help fight against this crisis! Why, she is so perfect, she could even be a reincarnation of Saint Elimine! And her shy nature just appeals to me! I must find out why she is like that, and when I do, I will find a way for me to enter her heart! I would love having her at my side in battle! And in the bed too, if you know what I mean."

Kent sighed, more than used to Sain's…uh…coarser humor. "That's just great, Sain. Anyway, I'll help you get info on Florina, you get me help for Priscilla, and we'll both win." Kent pushed himself off of the seat. "I think I'm making a big mistake."

Sain slapped his partner on the back. "Don't worry, my friend! This will go perfectly!"

Poor Sain didn't know how hard it would be for him to get that information. Of course, on the other side of the coin, Kent also would have a hard time. So both of them were proverbially screwed. In other words, they were screwed. Proverbially screwed just sounds cooler.

* * *

Sain sighed. It had been about a week since that agreement with Kent, and he wasn't having much luck. He had spotted Raven watching him, as if daring him to come within twenty feet of his sister. Sain knew that it was just brotherly protection and stuff, but it was giving him a headache. So far, all he had gotten was that Raven would seriously harm anyone who would hurt his sister, army members included. _'Okay, this is getting annoying. If I'm not going to get anything by talking to Priscilla because Raven won't let me, I might as well see if Raven can shed some light on this.'_ So Sain walked up to the silent, red-haired mercenary, who glared at him. "Good day, Raven!"

"What do you want, Sain?" Raven folded his arms.

"Quick to the point, I see."

"Helps me from having to deal with morons."

"Ah…Good strategy. Anyway, I need to ask you for some information. Um…Help for a friend, you might say."

Raven narrowed his eyes. "What kind of information?"

Sain scratched his cheek, carefully wording his request. "Well, since you are Lady Priscilla's brother…I believe you might tell me what Priscilla might like in a man. You know…In a husband. Because I'm doing this for a friend…"

"This friend had better not be you. I've heard a lot of your escapades."

"Um…It's Kent."

Raven stopped glaring. "Ah, so you're searching for information for someone other than yourself, correct? Well, Kent is a trustworthy character, and I believe he wouldn't try to harm my sister. He does seem devoted to his honor. Of course, you are too, Sain. I realize that. It's just that you're more…outgoing than him."

"I completely understand Raven." Sain nodded. _'No I don't.'_

"I'm sure you've figured it out. My sister is a sweet girl. When she was a child, she would always tell me that she was waiting for her knight, her protector that would shield her and guard her from all of the evils in the world. She loves those fairy tale books, where the heroine would be saved by a warrior who endured a countless number of trials for her. You know, those people who uphold honor above all else and follow the code of chivalry to a letter. Someone who would take an arrow for her."

"Ah…My friend would be the perfect hero for your sister to adore! But what feelings does Priscilla already harbor for the members of this army? As her brother, I'm sure you would know."

"Hm…I don't know if I should be telling you this…But if it will help my sister find her knight, then I'll tell you. She considers Hector and Eliwood friends, not boyfriend material. She thinks Hector is too violent and she's already noticed Lyn trying to make her move on Eliwood. As for Kent, she does think he's close to a protector and hero. Not extremely, since they haven't seen action together that much. She likes Erk a lot, since he was an escort for her, and did protect her from various bandits, thieves, and riff raff. But then, Erk's with Fiora. That kind of broke her heart, but she got over it. As for you, well, she thinks you're like a hero too. Just not the right type of hero. She really doesn't like guys who eye other girls."

"My loss. I really should stop doing that."

"Maybe you should. As for everyone else, she either doesn't know them that well, or considers them friends. But I think your friend has the greatest chance at the moment." Raven smiled slightly, then frowned. "But if I find out you're lying to me, then you'll really regret it. And I mean really." He gave a predatory grin. "Tell Kent I wish him best of luck."

"No problem." Sain eyed Raven warily and walked off, slightly giddy at the fact that he finally had some information to give to Kent.

While Sain was pumping Raven for information, Kent was approaching Florina's sisters, intent on fulfilling his own end of the bargain. Unlike Sain, Kent had made lots of progress, asking Lyn and a few others about advice for Florina. Obviously, he kept it a secret that it was Sain who wanted the information, because if he didn't, chances are poor Sain wouldn't have an unbroken bone in his body.

'_So far, I've found out that Florina really likes flowers and pretty things…Not a surprise there. She's extremely nervous around males. Also no surprise, as there are people more obvious than Sain out there. She likes to go riding on her pegasus during break, probably during the afternoon. And…Oh yeah, Florina is extremely cute. Heard that last one from Hector. Figures.' _Kent waved to Fiora and Farina, who were sitting down at a table, busy eating a couple of snacks that they had pilfered from Merlinus.

"Hey Kent! What's up?" Farina waved back. The blue-haired pegasus knight took another bite out of the chocolate chip cookie she was eating, and promptly started choking on it.

Fiora sighed and pounded her sister on the back. "Don't eat so fast, Farina!" Fiora turned her attention back to Kent. "Good afternoon, Kent. Are you doing well?"

"Good day, Farina, Fiora." Kent nodded gravely. "There is something I need to discuss with you two."

"Not more rules! It better be something other than rule-making!" Farina sat up, extremely alarmed at the idea that the two of them would create even more rules that would restrict the merrymaking around the camp.

Kent shook his head. "No, Farina. It's about your sister, Florina."

"Florina? Did she do something wrong?" Fiora looked at Kent worriedly.

"No! Of course not, Fiora!" Kent sighed and scratched the back of his head. _'This is going well.'_ "May I take a seat?"

"No problem! What's stopping you?" Farina grinned, and motioned to a seat on the other side of the table. "So, whatcha need to know?"

Kent nodded thanks and sat down. "Well, I'm trying to find a way to help an…uh…acquaintance become closer to Florina's heart." _'That sounded really corny. I can't believe I just said that.' _Kent coughed nervously, clearing his throat. "I thought, as her sisters, that you might help shed some light on this matter."

"Your friend wouldn't happen to be Sain, would it?"

"What! How did you know? Uh…I mean, that was a nice guess." The cavalier looked at the table, embarrassed. Farina let out a long laugh before answering him.

"Come on, Kent! Nothing's more obvious! First of all, Sain had already asked us for our help. Second of all, the only person you'd even _consider_ helping would be Sain, since he's your best friend. And finally…Yeah, it's just obvious. Because you wouldn't go through that whole spiel if it was advice for you."

"Sigh…I guess you're right. Anyway, are you going to help me?" Kent looked up hopefully at the two sisters. The sisters looked at each other quickly before turning to Kent.

"Okay, we'll help." Fiora nodded at Kent.

"Under a couple of conditions though." Farina held up a finger to stop Kent from celebrating too early. "One. You must make sure that Florina does not get her feelings hurt by Sain. The two of us know that Florina can take care of herself, but that doesn't stop us from looking out for her."

"No problem. Sain won't do that. He knows how to stay committed to one girl."

"I'm glad to hear that." Fiora looked skeptically at Kent, her voice suggesting that what Kent said wasn't that believable.

"No, I mean it! Sure, he may be…roguish as times and it does seem that he's someone who would dump a girl at first chance, but I know he's not like that! Deep down inside, he just wants to find a girl he really connects with. And he also wants to have fun trying to find that girl. Ever wonder why he's always smiling?"

"Good point. Maybe you're right. After all, you're his friend." Fiora shrugged. "We had more conditions, but since you seem so convinced about the righteousness about your friend, we've decided to tell you all you need to know."

"What? Fiora!" Farina turned to her sister. "Are you sure he's telling the truth?"

"Farina, mercenary work has made you paranoid. I'm perfectly certain that-" Fiora was about to continue when Kent slammed his hand down on the table.

"Excuse me! I am a Caelin knight, and my word is my honor! I would never lie to a friend or comrade! My honor is my life!"

Farina managed a small smile. "I see…Sorry about that, Kent. I didn't mean to insult you. Just a slip-up."

"Thank you."

"Anyway…" Fiora quickly glared at Farina before turning back to Kent. "What do you need to know for Sain? I never thought I'd be saying that…"

"Me neither. I never thought I'd be helping him get a girl." Kent shook his head, wondering about the overall strangeness of his mission. "Well…I'm sure she's told you some things about her feelings about the guys…More things she likes…And why she's so afraid around men. And…uh…Maybe drop a good word or two for Sain."

"I can help with the good word and the things she likes. Florina goes to Fiora more for the personal stuff. Lucky sister." Farina pouted.

"Florina hasn't seen you in a long time! Give her some time. She still has to get used to you being around."

"Fine, fine." Farina grumbled. "Anyway, I assume you already know that Florina likes flowers, right?"

"Yeah, that's almost common knowledge around the camp." Kent nodded.

"Hmm…Well, it does please her to get things for her pegasus as well. Also, she's very fond of fruit. But now, I believe what she misses most is a part of our homeland. I bet that Florina would simply love a gift that would remind her of home. And…This is a secret, but she likes wine as well. I remember this time-"

"Faariiina…" Fiora flashed a warning glance at Farina. "I don't think that's such a great story to tell him."

"Aw, come on! It was funny!"

"Let her tell the story on her own."

"You're no fun." Farina folded her arms. "Hey, I think Florina's coming back from her ride. Might as well see if I can get her to like Sain more." She pushed herself up, and ran towards her sister. "Talk to you later!"

Kent thought about the new information. "That was useful. At least Sain will be able to choose better gifts now."

"I assume that he was the one that sent the chocolates, huh?"

"Most likely. You know how he is."

"Yes, unfortunately, I do." Fiora kicked a table leg. "Well, might as well fill my part here. For one, your Sain is near the middle of her list. She thinks Sain seems fun to be with, but she's kind of daunted by the fact that it seems that Sain has already been out with every girl in the world."

"Which is completely untrue."

"I agree. But I'm sure Farina will dispel that illusion. Actually, Florina thinks Sain is like a male Farina."

"Like she thinks I'm a male you?" Kent smirked, remembering when Florina was telling him of her family back home.

"Um…Right. So Florina is more afraid that she won't measure up to the other girls than she is of Sain's…habits. Florina does respect Sain, and thinks he's an excellent fighter. She also notes that Sain seems perpetually cheerful, and that nothing gets him down. Florina wishes that she could be like that sometimes."

"He does seem to carry that aura of happiness, huh?"

"Yeah. So there you have it. That's what Florina thinks of Sain." Fiora clasped her hands. "As to her fear…You know that you rarely see any males leave from Ilia."

"Yeah, I've always wondered about that. Why aren't there any male mercenary groups coming out from Ilia? Given the land's reputation for having the best warriors around, you would think some guys would get some of the action."

"Yes…Well, the men usually work trying to tame the land to plant our crops. The plants require care almost every minute so they are very busy. But enough about that. Florina has had some…bad experiences with men. She's not the tallest girl around, and during basic schooling, she was picked on a lot because of her height. Unfortunately, it seems that most of the teasers were guys. And after she joined the military school, it was almost all girls."

"Ah…I see."

"Correct. This is about the first time in a couple of years that Florina has had this much contact with members of the opposite gender. I'm sure she'll get over it, but it takes time. A couple of months traveling cannot erase years of isolation."

"Nice phrase."

"Thanks, made it up myself. Tell Sain that I wish him luck, and that he doesn't take it too fast. Florina's a timid girl. She likes taking things slow so that she doesn't get over her head."

"I understand. I'll tell him that right away." Kent stood up, smiling. "Thanks for your help, Fiora."

"No problem." Fiora etched a quick salute before leaving, probably to go search for Erk.

"I just hope that this whole thing is worth it." Kent muttered under his breath as he walked towards the inn, trying to memorize all of the information.

* * *

"Kent, boy do I have information for you!" Sain smiled broadly and clapped his friend on the back, motioning Kent towards a seat.

"Same here, my friend. How about you go first, and then I'll tell you the things I heard." Kent sat down, wearing a small grin of his own.

"Very well!" Sain rested his arms on the sides of the chair. "Apparently, you have the best chance of becoming number one in dear Priscilla's heart! Try approaching her now and talk to her! I'm sure it'll only take a little bit of trying before she falls completely head over heels for you! Kent, you are so lucky to have a girl drop into your lap like that!"

Kent brightened. "Ah! Why…That is good news! Now it's time for me to fulfill my part in the bargain. Florina likes you at the moment. Not as boyfriend material, not yet, but likes you as a friend." Kent smiled wryly. "Seems that your reputation precedes you, Sain. She thinks you're extremely lucky with the ladies and that she doesn't measure up to your standards. Other than that, she thinks you're a terrific fighter and a great person to be with. And as for your gifts, her sisters tell me that she misses her homeland. I'm sure a present that might ease her longing would be well appreciated, if you know what I mean."

Sain's eyes twinkled. "This has worked out perfectly, my friend! Well, there are things I must do! Thank you very much for your help!"

"Same to you, Sain! This is doing better than I ever thought possible." Kent shook Sain, slightly giddy at finding out that Priscilla already liked him. The two friends parted company; Sain heading for the market to find a gift for Florina, and Kent searching for Priscilla so that he could talk to her for a while.

* * *

"Argh! Hector said this was the biggest market in all of Lycia, and there isn't a single thing from Ilia! Come on, there have got to be some goods from there!" Sain strolled through the marketplace of Ostia, looking frantically for some sort of gift from Ilia. "I've practically seen things from every other country _other_ than Ilia! Magic necklaces and jewelry from Etruria, sculptures and carvings from Bern, Nabatan artifacts, weapons crafted from Sacae and the Western Isles, and paintings from Lycia!" Sain was going out of his mind trying to find a gift. It didn't help that the marketplace seemed to be its loudest at this time and day. And all of the merchants yelling out facts about their wares at full volume didn't help either.

Out of the corner of his eye, however, he spotted a stall whose sign said that they carried goods from the whole continent of Elibe. He pushed back the curtains that covered the entrance, and saw a gleaming store, with merchandise packed all around. "This is amazing…Maybe they _do_ have everything in Elibe."

"Ah, welcome to my humble store!"

"_MERLINUS?_" Sain stared at the shopkeeper. _'Yep. There's the blue hair, the overly plump body…That's Merlinus.'_

"Wha? Sain! I see you found my shop! Officially I'm not allowed to set up shop, but since we're already here, Lord Hector gave me permission." Merlinus bowed. "How can I help you?"

"Uh…I'm not sure it's the best choice of action to tell a member of the army what I need to buy."

"Don't worry, my friend! Whatever you buy is a secret between you and me! Merchant's Honor!" Merlinus crossed his heart, a big grin on his face.

"Merchants have honor?"

"That hurts, Sain, oh yes it does."

"Sigh…I guess I'll trust you. I'm looking for something from Ilia."

"Ilia, you say? Why, I think I might have some stuff from there. Just wait a second." Merlinus disappeared for a while, and then returned, holding a small box filled to the brim with various objects.

"I assume you were successful in your search?" Sain raised an eyebrow at the box.

"Oh, yes!" Merlinus set the box down on a table. "Look through! Tell me if you see anything that you like!"

"Let's see here…" Sain rummaged through the box, looking for the present that he knew Florina would just love. "Hmm…Miniature ice sculptures…Wait, how come these don't melt?"

"Do I look like the kind of merchant who would sell things that melt or disappear?"

"Yes."

"You wound me, Sain! Anyway, I asked Lord Pent to put an enchantment on it that prevents melting and breaking."

"Ah…Smart." Sain nodded appreciatively. "What else is there? A lot of the things in here involve snow or ice."

"That would make sense, since, you know, it snows almost every day there."

"Point taken. Hey, wait a minute! This looks like Florina and her sisters! And they're in front of a house. Where'd you get this?" Sain looked incredulously at Merlinus, who tapped his head.

"Ah, yes. It arrived a couple of days ago. Apparently, that montage was requested by Dame Farina. She decided to leave it here just a couple of minutes ago, saying that someone else would need it a lot more."

"If Farina stops by later, tell her I said thanks." Sain ran his fingers along the curves of the setting, admiring the workmanship. "How much?"

"No cost. Farina said that it should be given to the person who wanted it. Why, I don't really know, but that's what she said. So, take it with you! Do you need a wrapping for that? Glass box?"

"Hmm…Yeah. Place it in a glass cube and put small flowers at the corners. And then wrap the whole thing up."

"Good idea, Sain! It will be done in a few minutes. Since you're a friend and a member in the army, no charge for that as well. I'm killing my own business, but it's worth it. Anything for a worthy friend." Merlinus disappeared again, carrying the small ice and snow figurine.

"You know, Merlinus isn't half bad. Maybe I should help protect him in battle more often."

"I'd extremely appreciate that, Sain." The blue-haired merchant popped up behind Sain, carrying a wrapped package.

"Holy crap!" Sain spun, placing a hand on his rapidly beating heart. "Merlinus! Don't do that!"

"I'm extremely sorry, Sain." Merlinus bowed, and handed the cavalier his package. "I hope the person you give it to will enjoy that."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure she will." Sain accepted the gift gratefully, and then left Merlinus' secret shop. '_This is going to be great!'_

* * *

"Ah….Lady Priscilla?" Kent walked up to where the red-haired troubadour was sitting. Priscilla looked up from the tome she was reading and smiled.

"Hello, Sir Kent. Is there anything troubling you?"

"N-No…It's nothing important. I just…uh…wanted to talk to you. Would that be okay?" Kent's face was slowly flushing, since he was extremely nervous. This was around the first or second time that he had talked to a girl about something that didn't involve rules or duties.

Priscilla giggled. "Of course, Sir Kent. What is it that you wish to talk about?"

"Just call me Kent." Kent sat down next to her. The cavalier was starting to feel more comfortable around her, so his blush was slowly fading.

"Well, of course Kent. So, why do you want to speak to me?"

"I guess it's just that I want to get to know you better."

"K-Know _me_ better?" Priscilla stuttered, pointing to herself. "W-Why me? Of course, I-I'd like that a lot." She quickly looked at the floor, her face a bright red.

"Why you? Why not you? After all, you're talented, charming, polite, and not to mention, beautiful." _'Crap, I'm starting to sound like Sain. I'm hanging around him waaaay too much.'_

"T-Thank you, Kent. I think you're very charming and polite yourself." Priscilla nodded slightly. The troubadour turned to Kent and smiled. "Thank you very much, Kent. We _will_ talk later, right? I don't want to miss you."

"You can count on it, Priscilla."

"Hee hee…Then it's a date. Sometime later?"

"R-Right! Of course!"

"That's good…" Priscilla winked at Kent, and leaned down for a quick peck on Kent's cheek before dancing off.

Kent stared at Priscilla's vanishing figure and smiled. "…I believe that the deal I made with Sain was definitely worth it."

* * *

"Ah, looks like you found it. I was wondering how long it would take." Farina glanced at the box in Sain's hands. "Unless I'm grossly mistaken and that _isn't_ a snow sculpture from Ilia that shows me, Florina, and Fiora in front of our house."

"Heh, thanks Farina."

"No problem. Now go give it to her already! I told her that you were coming to give her a present."

"How exactly do you know all this?"

"I'm psychic." Farina winked. "Now hurry up!" She began pushing Sain towards the clearing where Florina was waiting. "I want to see this!"

"Okay, okay, Farina! I'm going!" Sain jogged towards the orchid-haired pegasus knight, her gift in his hands.

'_Huh? What's that?'_ Florina turned, and spotted Sain running towards her. She immediately started blushing, even though Sain hadn't even started talking to her yet. Hell, he wasn't even within ten feet of her yet. _'Calm down, Florina. You can do this. He likes you. Sain doesn't want to hurt me. Sain is very handsome. Gulp…Why'd I just think that?'_

Sain finally reached Florina, panting and completely out of breath. "Stupid….Farina…kept…pushing…me…"

"A-Are y-you okay, S-Sain?" Florina looked worriedly at Sain, but the cavalier gave her a thumbs-up and smiled.

"No problem for a daring and strong warrior such as I!" _'I'm going to KILL Farina later!' _Sain pulled out the package and handed it to Florina. "Well, my lovely Florina, I hope that you enjoy this…I got it just for you."

"T-Thank you, Sain." Florina timidly unwrapped the gift, and gasped in happiness when she saw what was inside. "This is so beautiful, Sain! I love it!"

"That's great, Florina! I knew you would like it! Only you could deserve such a prize! Since you are so beautiful and lovely, Florina!"

Farina slapped her face. She was watching them from a couple of bushes nearby. _'Stupid idiot! Stop beating around the bush and tell her that you love and her and want to make out with her! It's true and you know it!'_

"D-Does this mean that you really like me, Sain?" Florina looked up hopefully, half-formed tears in her eyes.

"Of course, Florina." Sain smiled warmly and ran his hand through Florina's hair.

"D-Do you mean that? Y-You're not just saying that?"

"Definitely. I would never lie to you."

"I-I'm so glad to hear that…"

Sain wrapped his arms around Florina, enveloping her in a hug. Florina broke down and began sobbing on him, immensely happy that Sain truly did love her.

"This is so sweet…" Farina whispered to Fiora and Matthew, who were hiding next to her.

"I'm so happy for our sister, Farina."

"Yeah, so am I. You got that picture, right Matthew?"

"Of course. You can count on me." Matthew snickered and finished drawing the sketch he made of the scene. "Give me a day or two, and I should have it finished."

"No problem. Thanks a lot, Matthew."

"No, no, thank _you_. This is going to be such sweet gossip, and I'm one of the five people who know about it. Hehehe…Thank you very much, ladies." Matthew grinned impishly and silently sneaked off.

"Stupid thieves…"

A couple of days passed, and soon it was time for Hector's army, A.K.A. Hector's Hecklers, to continue moving along. Because of some last-minute planning on part of Hector and Eliwood, they managed to hold a dance at Castle Ostia to say goodbye to their holiday.

"Jealous Hector?" Eliwood grinned at his blue-haired friend. They were sitting at the bar, watching the others dance, and Eliwood had noticed Hector following Sain and Florina.

"Jealous? Of what?" Hector grumbled, looked into his mug before taking a drink.

"Oh, maybe because Sain got Florina before you did." Eliwood swirled his wine a little before taking a long drink from his cup. "I'm sure you had your sights set on her."

"Shut up Eliwood. Sure, maybe I did, but Sain got to her first so that's that."

"You're just angry that you don't have a girlfriend yet." Eliwood started chuckling, slapping his hand on the counter.

"Bah."

"Oh, I'll see you later, Hector!" Eliwood set his cup down before staggering on his feet, betraying a slight drunkenness on the part of Eliwood. "Lyn wants to dance, and as you know, if she wants something, she gets it!" He ran up to where Lyn was, and soon they were busy dancing.

"Hmph…This is so not fair. Man, Erk got Fiora, San gets Florina, Kent has Priscilla, Eliwood hooked Lyn…This sucks. When am I going to get a girlfriend?"

"Stop being such a pill!" Farina plopped herself into the seat next to Hector. "Come on, dance with me! It'll stop you from groaning and feeling sorry for yourself."

"I think that's the beer that's making me feel sorry, not me. Or maybe I'm too sober. Better drink some more." Hector was about to get another bottle, but Farina stopped him and pulled him off of the seat.

"Don't be a drunkard! It'll be fun!"

"Fine! Fine!" Hector reluctantly placed his empty mug back on the counter before being dragged to the dance floor by Farina.

"Looks like your sister has her sights set on Hector." Sain looked over Florina's shoulder as they were dancing, observing the other couples.

"Yes…She told me that she was attracted to him." Florina murmured to Sain, slowly moving in time with the music. Sain looked up again and spotted Kent nearby.

"Looks like this all worked out, huh?" Sain mouthed the words to Kent, who nodded.

"Yeah…Best plan we ever came up with."

"Well, you just gotta keep trying, Kent. Told you there would be more than one person making noise at Castle Caelin!" Sain grinned widely, winking at Kent. And, for once, Kent mirrored Sain's grin, and winked back.

* * *

Chris: God this is too long. But it's like two fics in one. So maybe that's an explanation. I don't know. Well, review and stuff! Tell me if you like it!

Farina: Where do you get ideas for pairings like these?

Chris: It's skill. Seriously. Extreme skill.

Farina: Yeah right.


	3. Stole My Heart

Chris: Another one-shot because I feel like uploading something. Once again, I'm on my dad's computer. If you want an update on my internet problem…My computer's internet stuff itself is broken. Something about IP configurations and stuff. Eh….Just have to see. Oh, and I have some new stuff on a different site.

**Elemental Difficulties, Chapters 1 – 4 **(Original Manga-Style Story….Reeeeaaaad? When I upload it? Actually, read all my original fics because I'm desperate. The fictionpress URL is in my profile. Click on my SN.)

Now, here's the reader reviews.

**Nightmare3: **Glad you like it. And Raven isn't always mean and cruel. He can be helpful…Sometimes. Okay, usually not.

**Min the Noodle:** Hehehehe, thanks for the compliments. I'm glad you like it so much. And I hope you go ahead on a Fire Emblem story or something! I'm sure it'll be great!

**montblancerk reloaded: **Erk x Fiora is under appreciated. They should have more fics on it, even though it's very uncommon. And thanks for liking the second chapter even though you don't like Sain x Florina.

Note: Don't own Fire Emblem or its characters. Warning. This story has an original pairing. As in it's not canon. So if you hate that stuff for some reason, don't read. And if you're wondering about the pairing, it's in Fire Emblem Halloween, which I need to update.

* * *

**Stole My Heart**

Matthew whistled as he strolled through the army camp. They were resting before the final battle with Nergal, and many people were reflecting on events or training. _'Why waste all that time? I've got a job to do, and I'll do it. I'm sure Leila would have wanted it that way. Leila…Oh great! Now what am I doing? I better see what's going on at camp.'_ The thief checked his cape for all of his thieving tools and made sure they were all in tip-top shape.

"Hey Guy!" Matthew waved to the Sacean swordmaster. "From what I recall…You still owe me two favors, right?"

"Awww…Matthew! Can you ask me later? This is not a good time!" Guy looked pleadingly at the spy. He was clutching his practice sword and Lady Lyndis was waiting on the other side of the practice area. "I'm busy!"

"Well, sure, Guy." Matthew ruffled Guy's hair and the swordsman groaned. "Hmmm…Looking at Lyn, huh? Betcha want to do more than just practice, huh?"

"MATTHEW!" Guy glared at the blond thief, who starting laughing. "That's not funny!" The swordsman's face was slowly turned red from anger and embarrassment.

"Hey Matthew! What are you doing to Guy?" Lyn yelled at the thief as she waved her sword around. "Come on! I need to get better so I can defeat Nergal!"

"Just a minute, Lyn!" Guy yelled back and then turned to Matthew. "_Later!_ Okay?"

"Fine, fine. Be that way." Matthew patted Guy on the back. "Good luck! On all sorts of things!" He walked off, tossing a couple of gold coins he filched from Guy's pocket.

Lyn raised an eye at Guy. "Hey…What'd he mean by that?"

The plainsman flushed red. "N-Nothing! Nothing at all!" He charged at Lyn. "Prepare yourself!"

Matthew continued his journey through the camp. He came across Farina and the cavaliers in the company. He frowned when he came upon them. "Cards? Again?"

"Hey, what do you expect us to do? Pray for our lives? We'll live, okay?" Farina looked up from her cards. "I don't suppose you'd like to join…Wait, nevermind. You suck at this game." Farina smirked at Matthew and Sain started to laugh.

The thief winked and grinned at the players. "Oh yeah? …We'll see about that. Deal me in." He sat next to Farina, reaching out for his cards.

A couple of turns later, Matthew was wearing a huge grin and Farina was looking pissed. "Looks like I win again, Farina. Geez, if I suck, you guys must really suck!"

"How the hell are you doing this?" Farina slammed down her cards angrily. "It's like you're getting every single card you need!"

"This is not fair…" Lowen turned over his cards and sighed. "There goes my lunch money. I was going to treat Rebecca to dinner."

"Hmph…You're just lucky." Sain threw his cards into the pile.

"I can't believe this." Kent sighed and pushed his cards away. "How does he know when we're bluffing or not?"

"Want to go again? Or are you afraid of losing more money? Tsk, tsk…I guess you need that high salary to pay for all your gambling debts." Matthew smiled wickedly and fingered the card deck.

Farina shuddered angrily. "THAT'S IT! I'M GOING TO KICK YOUR ASS IN CARDS, MATTHEW!" She scooped up the cards and began shuffling them rapidly.

"Sure, sure…" Matthew stretched lazily. "Deal out the cards and give me your money."

"You'll pay for that!"

An hour later, Matthew walked away from the four players, carrying a heavy sack filled with gold coins and gems. Behind him, Farina, Sain, Kent, and Lowen were looking dismally at Matthew's retreating figure. That is, until a card fell out of Matthew's cape.

"HEY! Matthew cheated!" Farina leaped up, pointing at the thief, who now had a big sweatdrop on the back of his head.

"He probably looked at our hands and stole cards from the deck!" Sain and Kent were up too.

"He's a thief! And a cheater! Let's get our money back!" Lowen pushed himself up and glared at Matthew.

"Uh…" Matthew turned around and offered a weak smile. "Sorry?" He dropped the bag and dashed away from the four angry fighters. Farina grabbed a lance lying on the ground and ran after him, waving it angrily in the air. Kent picked up the bag on money and found a thick branch on the ground. The orange-haired cavalier grabbed the club as well and followed Farina.

"They don't call me the Green Lance because I can paint!" Sain grabbed his lance, which, ironically, was colored red and charged at the thief. Lowen jumped up as well and grabbed his sword when he suddenly felt a pang in his stomach.

"Oh crap! My stomach's rumbling! Someone's in danger!"

"And I think it's me!" Matthew shouted back at Lowen while he ran for his life. The cavalier shrugged and went to look for Rebecca.

'_Hmm…Maybe I could just make a homemade meal. I'm sure she'd like that. Ooooh…My lovely Rebecca.'_ Lowen whistled as he headed for Rebecca's tent.

While Lowen was busy thinking of different recipes in his mind, Matthew was crouching in some bushes, watching Farina, Kent, and Sain run past his hiding spot, yelling out obscenities.

'_Just think of the children!' _Matthew admonished them in his mind. _'Your parents would not like you speaking like that! Tsk, tsk.'_ He finally rose as he saw that they had disappeared. "Phew…I'm safe."

"What did you do this time?" Legault sneaked up on Matthew and tapped his shoulder, giving the other thief a heart attack. "Matthew?" He shook the unconscious thief for a bit. "Eh…Guess I killed him. Oops." The thief walked off, taking Matthew's daggers, cloak, money, and lockpicks.

When Matthew woke up a couple of minutes later, he was very displeased to find out he was just in his shirt and breeches. "Where's my cloak? And my money! Man, that was my week's pay!" He pushed himself up and dusted off of his clothes. "Oh well. If that person puts on my cloak, I wouldn't want to be him. I'm the only guy who wears a red cloak." Matthew brightened as he thought of something. "Hey…Farina, Sain, and Kent might think the person who has my cloak is me…I'm free!"

He walked back into the camp, savoring the feeling of the wind in his spiky, blond hair. Matthew was pleased to see that Guy had finally acted on his feelings and was fidgeting around as he talked to Lyn. _'Hmm…It definitely would be funny to spring up on them…Nah…I'll just use one of my favors so I become the best man. Yeah, that way I get the best view at the wedding. Heh heh.'_

The next thing he saw was Erk trying to run away from Serra, who was holding up a checkered cloak.

"Come on, Erky! Wear it! It's cute!" The pink haired cleric chased the mage, clutching the cloak.

"No! It's hideous! I'm never wearing something like that!" Erk turned and shot a fireball at the cape.

"Hey! Barrier!" Serra pulled out a small staff and cast a spell over the cloak. The fireball clashed against an invisible wall and evaporated.

"That's not fair!" Erk stamped his foot angrily.

"All's fair in war and love!" Serra smiled lovingly and ran after the mage again.

"But I'm not in love!" Erk cried out unhappily and continued running away.

"You're just in denial! I'm so cute, your mind is probably just adjusting!" The pigtailed cleric continued to run after Erk, still holding the cloak. Matthew laughed silently as he watched their antics, and continued in his observation of the camp.

The next people he saw were Lucius, Canas, and Priscilla. Canas was currently in a discussion with Lucius over the techniques of light magic.

"So, you're telling me that Light magic can pinpoint the weak spots on a person's body and attack it, causing more damage?" Canas wrote down his notes in a small, black notebook.

"Well, yes, Canas. As such, it doesn't cause as much pain, but there is a higher chance of dealing horrendous damage to your enemy. But it isn't my department to know about these things. I'm not that fond of fighting." The monk picked at his baby blue robe. "I follow the teachings of St. Elimine."

"Yes, I realize that, Lucius. You have been a great help to my research! I thank you greatly for your information! If there is anything you need to know about St. Elimine or the clergy, come to me. I am sure I have a tome or two that will help you in your quest for knowledge!" Canas shut his notebook, his eyes shining happily. _'At last! Information on all three magic types! I just need to know a little more!'_

"There is something that I've been searching for. I am looking for more information on the Scouring. I'm anxious to learn more about St. Elimine's participation in it." Lucius scratched his blond hair thoughtfully.

"Ah…I believe I have some books in my tent! Come right this way, Lucius!" Canas led the monk towards his tent, leaving Priscilla behind.

"Heya Priscilla. How are you doing?" Matthew walked up to the troubadour, who looked up.

"Oh, hi Matthew." Priscilla smiled happily and a slight blush appeared on her cheeks. "Everything is fine. I'm just worried about the battle ahead."

"Don't worry, Priscilla!" Matthew smiled cheerfully. He patted her on the shoulder and gave her a small hug. "Everything will be just fine! We'll kill that bastard and then we can all go home." The thief released her.

"Matthew? Where's your cloak?"

"Oh? …Somebody stole it! I can't believe it! Someone stealing from a thief! What's the world coming to these days?" Matthew threw up his hands and grinned, showing he was only partially joking. Priscilla chuckled happily and Matthew patted her again.

"I'll talk to you later, Priscilla! Keep in mind, we're definitely going to win!" He waved goodbye to her before continuing on his walk.

Priscilla smiled at Matthew retreating figure. She blushed deeper and hummed slightly to herself. _'Matthew…Such a rogue. But that's what makes him so charming.' _Priscilla ran a hand through her hair and continued humming. Lately, she had been thinking about Matthew more and more. _'I don't think he's really the one I want…But he's just so sweet and cheerful. I…just want to be with him. But then Lord Brother would kill him.'_

She shook her head dazedly, breaking out of her train of thought. She decided to find her brother and see if he would accept her decision. _'I don't know if it's love or not…But I just feel like he's the one.'_

She came across Raven near the outskirts of the camp, where he was fighting against Bartre. "Lord Brother!"

"Priscilla?" Raven looked to the side at his sister, and received a punch in the jaw by Bartre.

"Never look away in the midst of battle! A true warrior is always focus on his battles!" Bartre crowed happily.

"Oh yeah?" Raven punched Bartre in the stomach and retaliated with a kick in the place where guys usually don't like getting kicked. Priscilla gasped and shut her eyes and Bartre flopped on the ground, groaning.

"Cheeeaaaap shot…" The fighter continued the groan, rolling on the floor in dire pain.

"I was just focusing." Raven rubbed his fist and turned to his sister. "What is it, Priscilla?"

"Oh…Lord Brother, I was wondering if I could talk to you in private." Priscilla clasped her hands nervously.

"Well, okay. Sure." Raven turned away from Bartre and walked up to his sister. "Maybe next time, Bartre." The swordsman led Priscilla away to a spot behind one of the tents. "What is it you wanted to talk to me about?"

"Um…Well…What would you say…if I liked one of the guys in camp?" Priscilla looked nervously at Raven, who tapped his chin.

"Depends. If it's someone like Wallace, then I'd wonder what the heck is wrong with you. If it's someone like Sain, I'd kill him. And if it's someone like Erk, I'd warn him, injure him, and then let the matter be." Raven grinned evilly and cracked his knuckles. "I need some practice before the battle. So who is it?"

"Um…I t-think it's Matthew." Priscilla looked to the ground, blushing like mad.

"MATTHEW? Oh, I'm gonna kill him! DAMMIT MATTHEW! I thought I told him to stay away from my sister!" Raven punched a tent pole and stalked off, apparently hunting for Matthew.

Priscilla gasped in terror and chased after him. "Lord Brother! Don't hurt him!"

"Hey! Who collapsed out tent?" Lowen looked horrified as he came across his tent with Rebecca.

"Aw, that's okay, Lowen. It's fine out here." Rebecca smiled happily and hugged Lowen's arm.

"Well, if you say so." Lowen shrugged.

"You brought the stuff, right?"

"Of course! Like I'd forget that!"

"Let's get started!"

"Okay." Lowen pulled out a small basket and they began eating the food that Lowen had prepared. What'd you think they were going to do? Have sex right in the open? Tsk, tsk. What's wrong with you people? And if you didn't think that, then forgive me.

* * *

Matthew finally came across the person who stole his cloak. _'Ohhh…Legault, that bastard! Stupid thief!' _He was about to pummel the purple-haired thief into submission when he heard Farina yelling. _'Crap!'_ He quickly shadowed his face. "Who're you looking for, Farina?"

"Matthew, that little cheat!" Farina was too angry to notice that Matthew was the one talking to her.

"Oh…He's right over there." Matthew pointed to Legault, who, fortunately for Matthew, was wearing the red cloak.

"Let's kill him!" Farina yelled at Sain and Kent and they all charged at Legault, who turned, confused. That confusion suddenly turned into terror as the three angry warriors leaped on him and began hitting him with their various weapons.

"OW! What'd I do?" Legault yelled angrily, trying to dodge all of the weapons.

"You cheated, Matthew!"

"I'm not Matthew! I'm Legault, morons!" Legault showed his hair to the three attackers and they suddenly stopped.

'_Uh oh…I'd better go now.'_ Matthew sneaked off, but he wasn't fast enough.

"THERE HE IS!" Farina yelled again and pointed her lance at the blond thief. Matthew leaped up and ran away, with the angry players, and now Legault, chasing after him.

"AHHHH!" Matthew continued running again, this time with four angry people in pursuit. Unfortunately for him, he burst onto Guy and Lyn, who were tongue wrestling. "SHIT!"

"Matthew! What did I say about interrupting me? I'm going to kill you! Unless you want to use a favor to save your life." Guy unsheathed his sword and began running his fingers over the blade. Lyn quickly followed his example, except she aimed her sword at a very delicate part of his anatomy.

"I'm so sorry!" Matthew ran away again, and now Guy and Lyn joined the mob that was hell bent on killing him. "It was a mistake!" He quickly spotted Priscilla and hid behind her. "Please help me, Priscilla!"

"Huh? Matthew?" Priscilla looked at him, confused. Then she turned at the approaching mob and nodded her head in understanding. "What did you do? You know I don't like that."

"They were all innocent mistakes." Matthew grinned weakly.

"MATTHEW! THAT'S WHERE YOU ARE!"

"….This is not fair…" Matthew whined helplessly as he saw Raven stalking towards him.

"I'm going to kill you for getting my sister to fall in love with you!" Raven drew his broadsword and charged at the thief.

"What? Really?" Matthew looked up at Priscilla, astonished.

"Lord Brother! That was a secret!" Priscilla stamped her foot in frustration.

"Oh, sorry, Priscilla." Raven finally reached the thief, along with everyone else. Soon, everyone else was arguing about who should kill him.

"Look, let's just drag him somewhere and beating the living daylights out of him." Kent called for order and proposed his idea. He gained the support of every angry person and soon Raven had Matthew by the scruff of his neck.

"Matthew!" Priscilla looked despairingly at the thief.

"Remember what I said! We'll win the battle!" Matthew winked as he was being dragged away. Priscilla soon lost sight of the thief and wondered if they truly were going to kill him. And then, he was standing right next to her, grinning at her.

"Told ya we'd win. As in the both of us." Matthew patted her on the head.

"…B-But how?" Priscilla looked at the thief, and then to where everyone had left. She looked at Matthew again.

"Spy secret. We can disappear from anywhere. Come on, we'd better go before they figure out I'm gone. Just have to wait for them to cool down." Matthew took her hand and led her away from their location, wincing as he heard shouts of outrage in the distance.

"Are you sure about Lord Brother? He holds a grudge for a long time." Priscilla looked worriedly at the thief.

"Oh, don't worry. I'm sure I can charm him." Matthew leaned in and gave the troubadour a quick kiss on the cheek. Priscilla blushed hotly and looked at Matthew.

"M-Matthew…" Priscilla laughed lightly and covered her mouth with her hand. _'I guess that's why he's so charming. He's funny, charismatic, and a good friend to have. And he's a thief. I guess…He just stole my heart. And I hope he keeps it…Because I plan on loving him forever.'_

* * *

Chris: There you go! More unusual pairings for you! I hope you like this story. I try my best! Review please! Any advice or compliments are most welcome! 


	4. It's a Matter of Respect

Chris: I got this idea when I was thinking about Ross gets no respect in FE 8. Poor, poor Ross.

**Lord of swords and waffles: **Glad you liked it. I'll try to catch those mistakes next time.

**Nightmare3: **Glad to see someone else likes unusual pairings. Because unusual pairings are awesome. And this is unusual in the sense that they don't get an ending. But the characters have supports.I want to make a weirder FE 8 pairing. Like…Rennac x Eirika. Or Ephraim x Neimi. Or something.

**Duran the Warrior: **Thanks! And Matthew can get into that much trouble. He's a spy. Spies attract trouble.

**Charlie: **Thanks. And I did get my computer fixed!

**(Reviewer whose name I can't put because ellipses don't work) **: Hey! Fiora can cry too!

* * *

**It's a Matter of Respect**

Ross, a young warrior from Ide, swung his axe in a wide arc, testing his control over the weapon. Unfortunately, it seems that a certain someone had greased the axe handle, and it slipped out of his hands, thudding into a tree nearby.

"Dammit, Ross!" Ewan, a young mage-in-training, stared at the axe. The pupil was relaxing on the other side of the tree when the axe had stopped around three inches away from his head. "Can't you get more control over that thing? You nearly killed me!"

"I'm sorry, Ewan! Someone put grease on the handle and it slipped out of my hands!" Ross ran up, flushing angrily. "When I get my hands on the person who did this…" Rubbing his hands against his blue shirt, the warrior tried tugging it out of the tree. However, since the handle was still slippery, Ross only succeeded in falling to the ground.

"Ha ha ha ha ha! I knew that was going to happen! Only you would do something like that!" Ewan laughed derisively.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ross stood up and brushed him off, his face red. "Are you calling me stupid?"

"I did mention how perceptive you were, right?" Ewan grinned impishly, his red eyes shining merrily.

"Ewan! Why don't you just shut up?" Ross continued tugging at the axe, this time being more careful.

"Ooooh…I'm so scared!" Ewan said in a mocking voice. "Did you solve my riddle yet?"

"NO!"

"Geez! Who would think it would take you this long to solve it? I can't believe how dense you are." Ewan clucked sadly, shaking his head mournfully.

"Go away, Ewan!" Ross cracked his knuckles, looking wrathfully at the pupil. Ewan took the hint and ran off, giggling slightly. Ross sighed angrily and released his frustrations against the axe, snapping the handle in two. He cursed and stomped off, intent on finding the person who had put grease on his axe.

It was unfair. Ross tried as hard as anyone else on the team, probably even harder. Yet most people just treated him as some stupid kid. Even people who were younger than he was, Ewan sprung to mind….Even they didn't treat him with any respect. Ewan considered him a joke, someone to make fun of with brainteasers.

'_Just because I can't solve it in a couple of days doesn't mean I'm stupid! I'm not going to spend all of my time trying to think of an answer! If Ewan does that type of stuff, then he needs a life!'_ Ross continued walking, searching for the person who was the likeliest culprit.

Even the royalty in the group were condescending to him at times. Actually, almost everyone except for his father had made fun of him at times. Innes, the royal prince of Frelia, was insulting to almost everyone around, but seemed to target Ross specifically. Amelia, the group's last trainee seemed to like Ross, although she also teased him quite a bit.

And finally, the one who razzed him the most. Lute, a young, overconfident, bitchy mage from Renais seemed to make a living insulting him. The purple-haired mage kept calling him "Sir Son-of-warrior-garcia-ross" and played random pranks on him. One time, she had taken the arm of a dead zombie and snuck it into his pack. When he reached inside his bag for a snack, his hand had touched the arm and he screamed and threw it out of his pack. When he looked for the culprit, he saw Lute snickering at him. And Ross couldn't even find out why she did this to him. For all he knew, Lute was just a sadistic asshole who liked torturing people.

And Ross finally spotted her, laughing as she set fire to a small spider. Ross shook his head. He never understood how she could be happy killing animals. Well, except for those mutated monsters that tried to kill them. But those really didn't classify as animals. But enough of that. Ross shook his head and walked up to Ross.

"Oh, hello, Sir Son-of-warrior-garcia-ross." Lute looked her, blinking her purple eyes.

"Stop calling me that!" Ross stamped the ground angrily.

"Stop calling you what, Sir Son-of-warrior-garcia-ross?" Lute looked up, her expression innocent.

"Grr! Forget about it." Ross sighed resignedly.

"Oh, okay. Good bye." Lute turned back to her activity of setting fire to small blades of grass.

"I'm not finished yet!" Ross yelled again, feeling his temper rising.

"I'm sorry about that. I've read that when people stop talking, they are finished with a conversation. So farewell." Lute walked away, whistling slightly.

Ross ran up to her and grabbed her shoulder. "Lute! I'm not finished with you!"

"I am quite sorry. I _am_ finished with you. So goodbye." Lute snaked out of Ross's grip and walked off. Ross watched her departing figure, shuddering in rage. Ross turned and stalked off, extremely upset at the mage's behavior. She never stopped to even _consider_ talking to him. The warrior decided to seek the advice of his father, Garcia.

* * *

Lute turned when she saw that Ross had stomped off. The purple-haired mage resisted laughing. _'Ross is so much fun to make fun of! Hee hee hee…Just like one of the animals.' _Lute grinned wickedly, walking up to the spot where she had seen Ross training earlier. She giggled when she saw what had happened. "I was right. He did break it." Lute chuckled again at the warrior's antics.

But something felt wrong. Lute looked around, getting a feeling of longing and boredom. That didn't make any sense to the mage, so she shrugged it off and walked away. But the mage couldn't help looking back at the axe and marveling at the amount of strength the warrior had.

* * *

"Father, I have a question."

Garcia looked up from his training. "Ross, what's wrong? Shouldn't you be improving your muscles?"

"I was! Except I had a small problem." Ross sighed and folded his arms.

"What's the problem, son?" Garcia placed his axe on the ground and looked at his son.

"It's my life! Nobody treats me with respect here! Ewan keeps teasing me with his stupid brainteasers and Innes insults me at every chance that noble gets!"

"Innes insults everyone."

"That's not the point! I just don't understand it! I do my best out there, fighting against every creature that darkness can cook up, yet no one acknowledges my efforts!" Ross threw his hands up in exasperation, hoping his father could come up with a solution.

"What else is bothering you? I can't be just that. We fighters are made of sterner stuff."

"Well, yeah. That brings me up to my biggest problem. You know Lute, right?"

"You mean that young mage? I heard she's pretty strong with her magic."

"She's the reason I couldn't practice today! She put grease on my axe so it slipped out of my hands!"

"Well, that is only one time, son." Garcia grinned weakly in the face of his son's rage.

"That isn't all! Every time I talk to her, she calls me Sir-Son-of-warrior-garcia-ross! Do you realize how annoying that is?"

"Well, yeah. That is out of line…"

"And now she doesn't even talk to me that much. She either walks away or cancels out any attempt I make at being her friend! It…It's just bothering me so much!" Ross clenched his fist angrily.

"Hm…I see your point, son." Garcia scratched the back of his head. _'Being a father is tougher than I thought.'_ The warrior clapped his hands to get Ross's attention. "Look, I think this Lute person bothers you, but you've got to put it behind you. You're a warrior, son! Everyone encounters people like her. You just have to continue on and prove to the world how strong you really are! Don't let anyone stop you, got it?"

Ross nodded, his temper calm at the moment. "Okay, dad. I got it. I'll try not to let her get to me."

"Now that's my son!" Garcia gave his son a hearty slap on the back, causing the young man to stumble forward. "Show them what a true warrior of Ide can do!"

"Right, father!" Ross ran off, his eyes flashing with eagerness. Garcia watched his pride and joy run off.

"I think I've gotten the hang of this father stuff now." Garcia picked up his axe and continued to practice.

* * *

Days passed by as the army continued fighting various monsters and enemies. Ross held true to his father's advice and preformed as admirably as possible, even saving Ephraim's and Eirika's lives numerous times. Soon, with the warrior's valor and bravery, Ross began noticing that people weren't making as much fun of him anymore. Even Innes occasionally said a kind word, although that was very, very rare, and usually was accompanied by a slight threat to kill him if he got in any type of relationship with Eirika.

Unfortunately, two of his aggressors still seemed unfazed. Ewan continued firing brainteasers at the warrior at the most inopportune of moments and Lute seemed to be even more insulting to him. Ewan didn't bother him that much, since Ross could just shove the young boy away, but something about how Lute kept pushing him off bothered him quite a bit.

Ross decided to confront the mage to see if he could find out why she was acting like this. Luckily for him, Lute was nearby, doing something involving a bug and two pointy sticks. Ross shrugged.

"Hey Lute!" Ross ran up to the mage, who looked up when she heard her name called. The mage quietly stood up and turned from Ross, walking away. The warrior glared when he saw this and grabbed her arm.

"Let go of me, Sir-Son-of-warrior-garcia-ross." Lute mumbled angrily and yanked her arm out of his grip.

"Sheesh! I just want to talk to you, Lute!"

"Well, I don't. Good bye." Lute continued walking away from the warrior. Ross scratched his head, puzzled.

'_What is wrong with her?' _Ross shrugged and walked off. There would always be other times to see why she despised him so much.

* * *

'_That idiot, Ross! Why can't he leave me alone? I always feel so weird when he's near me!'_ Lute stalked away from the warrior, clenching her fists in frustration. She didn't understand anything about that kid. There was nothing in it in her books, and she didn't possess knowledge about the mysterious feeling that was enveloping her. And the young girl hated to not understand something!

'_As long as he leaves me alone, then I won't feel weird anymore! So he had better just stay away!' _Lute continued on her walk, trying to work off her excess anger and feelings. _'And it's not fair that he just saves the lords! How come he hasn't saved anyone else? Like me, for instance!'_ Lute paused. She didn't want Ross to save her. Well, at least, _she_ didn't want to. Apparently, some part of her body did. Lute shook her head and walked towards her tent. She needed to read about this. There had to be some literature on why the heart would feel different about something the person had decided on.

* * *

A couple of days passed, and Ross still didn't have any luck with Lute. In fact, he was having worse luck. Now she had her faced buried in some weird book, or she immediately ran off, or she would blush, stammer, then get angry and run off. That last one really creeped him out, since he didn't think Lute could blush or stammer about anything. All Ross really could do was scratch his head and wonder about the overall strangeness of one purple-haired mage.

On a brighter note, Ewan had finally let up on the brainteasers after the warrior had solved one in a couple of minutes. Ross smiled at the memory.

"_Hey Ross! I've got another brainteaser for you!" The red-haired pupil walked up to the warrior, waving his hand merrily._

"_Ewan…How many times have I told you that I don't enjoy these?" Ross heaved a sigh as he slammed his hammer into the ground._

"_Aw, come on! They're fun!"_

"_You really need to get a life. But hurry up, what is it? I need to improve my fighting style."_

"_Hmph." Ewan pouted. "Whatever. Here it is. Think of words ending in -GRY. One of them is angry and the other is hungry. There are three words in the Magvelian language. What is the word? It's a word that you use every day. If you've listened closely, I've already told you the word. What is it?"_

"_Oh, that's easy. Let me think about it…" Ross scratched his head thoughtfully._

"_I can't wait for a week." Ewan folded his arms._

"_Shut up…Ah! I got it! It's language!" Ross smiled. _

"_What? How did you get it so fast? It took me weeks to understand that one!" Ewan gaped at the warrior, who winked._

"_It's obvious! What's the point of thinking about words that end in -gry?" Ross grinned happily. "If you think about it, then it's quite obvious that the three words you're talking about are 'the Magvelian language'. Let me guess. You were thinking about all of the words ending in -gry, weren't you?"_

"_Tch." Ewan looked away._

"_Hey, that's okay! I mean, it's probably stumped lots of people!" Ross clapped the young druid on the back. "Don't worry about it. I'm sure you're much better on other brainteasers."_

"_Thanks, Ross." Ewan looked up, a slight smile on his face. "I'm just amazed that someone like you beat me at this one."_

"_Hey!"_

"_It's just a joke." Ewan grinned. "I'll be back with more!" The druid dashed off, no doubt searching for something else to stump Ross with._

_The warrior grinned and picked up his hammer again. Finally, he had gotten Ewan's respect. _

Ross smiled. At least Ewan stopped making fun of him when he couldn't answer the riddle. And Ewan supplied the answers in a very reasonable tone now. Which was so much better than his mocking tone from earlier. Suddenly, an alarm rang out and Ross looked up to see Ewan running up to him.

"Hey Ross! Monster attack! Get ready!" Ewan pulled out an Elder magic tome and dashed off to warn the others. Ross ran to where the weapon stockpiles were located.

'_Now which one should I get…Screw it! If you're stuck for options, any one will just have to do!' _Ross quickly grabbed an iron axe from the pile and ran out into the battle, looking for anyone that might be in trouble.

* * *

Lute cautiously looked around, trying to spot any monsters before they tried to kill her. Her nature tome from cradled under her shoulder, and her hair moved slightly in the wind. A groan came from the left of her, and the mage spun to see a hulking zombie lurch towards her. Lute shuddered and quickly chanted a spell from her tome. She quickly snapped her fingers and a small magical array appeared under the zombie. The array glowed orange and the zombie burst into flame.

However, the zombie continued moving towards Lute, even though the fire slowly disintegrated its rotting skin. Just before the flaming monster could slash through her, however, the creature dissolved into dust and was blown away by the wind. Lute breathed a silent sigh of relief and shuddered. _'Those monsters creep me out…' _Even though she didn't show it, seeing zombies and skeletons walk the land had frightened her badly, and now her dreams were haunted by such creatures. Every one of those dreams ended with someone rescuing her, except she wouldn't be able to see the person's face.

Lute shuddered again, and then froze as she felt the hairs on the back of her neck tingle. She turned around to see a hovering ball of…darkness floating in front of her. The writhing shadows mesmerized her, until she realized that it was a Shadow Shot spell, something that some of the monsters had learned to utilize.

"Uh…Um…Not good…" Lute channeled all of the magic in her nature tome into her hands and she used all of the magic to weave a nature magic shield all around her. The tome disintegrated in her hands since all of its magic was gone. Lute looked worriedly at the pulsating shield, whose color switched between light-green, dark-blue, red, crimson, and yellow.

The hovering ball spewed some sort of gas out, which solidified into eight writhing tendrils. Lute stepped back, extremely worried. Eight meant that the caster was a gorgon, since each tendril represented one of the snakes on their head. She had desperately hoped that only three tendrils would appear which would signify that a mogall had cast the spell. It was all set in books that she had read, but nothing prepared her for the fear she felt.

'_This is stupid! I've killed many of these monsters before! Why am I afraid now?' _Lute steeled her nerves and watched the tendrils reach for her.

One of the tendrils crashed against the nature shield and disappeared, slightly cracking the magical shield. Another one tried drilling against one, small point, but failed as it disappeared. However, the tendril did manage to break the shield up more. A third tendril spread its magic to envelop the shield. The tendril evaporated, but it had succeeded in its mission of destroying the magical field.

Lute's eyes widened as she saw her last line of defense crumble. She quickly rummaged in her bag for a light magic tome, but before she could take it out, another tendril wrapped itself around her arm. She reached with her other hand, but that was restrained as well. Two other tendrils wrapped around her legs, immobilizing the mage. Lute was lifted into the air, where the last tendril hovered in front of her face. Beads of sweat dotted her forehead and the mage whimpered slightly.

'_I don't want to die!' _The mage closed her eyes as the last tendril…_passed_ through her, cutting deep into her soul. The other tendrils disappeared, dropping Lute onto the ground, where the mage coughed loudly, her body shaking from pain. Lute coughed again, feeling blood drip from her lips. She used her hand to stem the flow of blood, but that only resulted in her hand turning from the blood falling from her mouth.

'_I…don't want to die!' _Lute coughed and pushed herself up, still shaking from the magic that had flown straight through her body. Lute's knees shook with fear and she collapsed on the floor. "I…don't want to die…Please…I don't want to die." The mage shook her head rapidly, feeling tears fly out of her eyes. Lute pushed herself up again. _'Okay…I can do this…'_

Lute tried to steady her nerves, only to find out it was impossible. She still shook with fright, and while the blood had stopped coming out, pain still flared around her body. Lute turned around when she heard something behind her. An Arch Mogall was floating there, its big eye staring at her. Lute hated Mogalls. Their eye was creepy, and this one was no different. Lute decided to change that.

Murmuring something, she held out her hand and shot shards of light at the eye's pupil. The Mogall shut its eye and some of the shards bounced off of its skin. However, most of the light passed into the creature's eye and it wailed in pain.

'_How do these things make noise? They're giant eyes…I better study them later." _Lute looked curiously at the eye, fighting back the desire to spend a couple of hours dissecting the huge eye. Besides, it was impossible since they disappeared when they died.

The Arch Mogall opened its eye again, and Lute noticed that the creature looked angry. Very angry. It shot a thin beam of dark magic at the mage.

Lute was struck in the chest by the beam of dark magic, and felt blood spurt out of her mouth. Too make things worse, a pillar of dark magic erupted at where she was standing, enveloping the young mage in its power. She felt herself rising, being lifted by the surge of dark energy. Lute felt her soul and spirit get squeezed, tighter and tighter. Lute winced as her body screamed in pain. A couple of seconds later, the mage screamed loudly as well. The magic continued squeezing her until it seemed like she would be snapped in two.

'_I…I DON'T WANT TO DIE! Ross, you protected people…Why didn't you protect me? Why…' _Lute felt the squeezing stop and she drew in a shuddering breath, right before the finishing step of the spell occurred and slashed through her body with magic. She screamed again and collapsed on the ground, eyes closed. Blood slowly flowed out of her mouth, and the young mage could feel herself slipping away into unconsciousness. _'No…This isn't right…I'm supposed to be the best…'_ She felt her own blood seep into her clothes and stain her skin. Lute waited for the Arch Mogall to finish her off, but she didn't feel any extreme sensation of pain.

'_Ah…I'm so far gone…I don't even feel the pain any more…I remember that…' _Lute looked up, smiling slightly, expecting to see a field of dark magic around her. However, what she saw was a person standing in front of her, with an axe in his hands. The Arch Mogall was lying to one side, its head split open. _'Just like my dream…'_ Lute looked up at her rescuer, feeling that strange emotion from earlier flood her body.

* * *

Ross ran through the field, searching for someone in danger. However, everyone seemed to have matters under control, with monsters falling left and right. The warrior slammed his axe against a skeleton, splintering its bones and returning the monster to a pile of bones. He was about to go help Joshua fight off a couple of zombies when he heard someone screaming. The warrior rushed to the sound, his axe clutched in his hands.

Another scream resounded and Ross increased his pace. He arrived at where the screaming had originated to see an Arch Mogall hovering over a fallen Lute. Anger kindled in his body and he screamed a battle cry, slamming his axe into the Mogall's head…or eye, ending its life. He stood in front of Lute, looking to see if there was any spark of life left in her.

"Lute? Lute?"

Lute's head moved slightly, and Ross heard shallow breathing. Ross grinned in relief and lifted the mage onto his shoulders. He was astounded by the blood on the ground, and he hoped he wasn't too late to save the young mage. He felt Lute stir on his back, and he patted her on the head. "The Sir-son-of-warrior-garcia-ross is here to save you, Lute."

Lute managed a small smile. "Ross?"

"Yep. It's me." Ross flashed her thumbs up. "Come on. I've gotta get you to a healer."

Lute smiled shakily and nodded. "Yes…I read about them…They can heal almost anything…" The mage shuddered in pain. "I thank you, Ross…"

"I'm just doing my job." Ross grinned at the young mage and slowly carried her out of the field of battle. Lute wrapped her tired arms around Ross's chest, savoring the feeling she knew nothing about.

"Ross?" Lute whispered, trying to conserve her energy.

"Yes?" Ross continued searching for a healer.

"Can you…" The mage blushed. "Can you walk a little slower? I want to…" The blush deepened. "I want to spend a little more time with you."

"But your wounds!" Ross said incredulously.

"Don't worry…I'll be just fine. I'm the best magic user around, remember?" Lute grinned weakly.

Ross chuckled. "I remember. Okay, if you wish, my lady."

Lute sighed contentedly. _'So he's the guy who was in my dreams…And I guess this new feeling isn't so bad. But I'll need to figure out what it is first…But I'm pretty certain it's something people call love…'_

* * *

Lute poked a small beetle with a stick, watching as it scuttled off. "Hee hee."

"Torturing the animals again?"

Lute spun, only to see Ross standing above her, grinning.

"Oh…Hello, Ross." Lute stood up, her face passive.

"What? No more smiles for me?" Ross spread his arms wide, teasing her.

Lute cracked a small smile. "No…No. No more smiles…" She stood on her tip-toes and kissed Ross on the cheek. "I read that kissing someone shows how much affection you have for them." She blushed self-consciously.

Ross grinned again. "You've got to take a break from reading." Ross put his arm around her and they walked through the camp. "I'm just really glad you've started respecting me."

"Respect? Oh no…Ross. It's not only respect…It is love, Ross. It's love. And that's something I didn't read from a book." Lute smiled up at Ross, who smiled back.

* * *

Chris: Yep, well there it is! I hope you enjoy it! Cause it's my first FE 8 entry in my romance fic archive! I hoped you enjoyed reading it! And review please! Tell me whatcha think! 


	5. Royal Blood

Chris: Here's an outline of this fic.

**Idea Gotten By: **Merlinus Tent Forums - Serra Topic  
**Reason For Writing This: **I'm bored.  
**Pairing: **Can't tell you that. I'll just tell you that it's canon.  
**Why Not: **Because I don't like spoiling that stuff.  
**You Suck: **I know.

Now it's time for reader review responses! The Three R's!

**Inferno-Hero: **Thanks for the compliments. And I will not reveal whether or not I have a Joshua x Natasha story in the works.

Farina: He does.

…I glares at you.

**montblacerk reloaded: **Hehehe… Ross x Lute is awesome! Glad you liked it.

**Draknal: **Thanks! And lots of people like Joshua x Natasha. Actually, so do I. Joshua x Natasha is a cool pairing.

**drunkdragon: **Yeah…Don't forget, this is a romance fic archive with humor on the side. Eh, just trying to keep the balance here, but still glad you like it!

**Min the Noodle: **I daresay that I am the only person who has a Ross x Lute fic. Actually, I daresay I'm the only one who has a Ross fic. Poor fighter doesn't get any respect even from writers. Cause if he did, there would be more Ross fics out there. Poor, poor Ross. And thanks for accepting my offer! I'll try to make the fic as good as possible!

**Kiriku: **Hehe, thanks for all the compliments! I'll continue doing my best!

**Nightmare3: **Hmm…Ewan x Marisa, huh? I'll take you up on that. Just you wait! I'm gonna make a Ewan x Marisa story and you're gonna like it! And Innes is funky.

* * *

**Royal Blood**

"Erk! I'm royalty, you know! You should treat me with more respect!" Serra, the army's pink, pigtailed cleric scolded a young purple-haired boy as they walked through the city of Ostia.

"But Serra-!" Erk, the purple-haired mage from Etruria looked helplessly at Serra, trying to find some way to escape.

"Don't 'But Serra-!' me! I come from a very esteemed Etrurian family! I'm a very important person!" Serra continued berating Erk, completely oblivious to the fact that Erk wanted to get away.

"Yeah, yeah, I know!" Erk's eyes searched frantically for some sort of decoy. "You're from a very important family from Etruria and since you're of such high station you should be respected more!"

"Right!" Serra smiled. "It's a good thing you were listening! I might think you were insulting me."

'_Argh! What'd I do to deserve this?'_ Erk groaned inwardly as Serra continued on another tale of how great she was.

_---_

"Look who's back! And he's still alive! I'm impressed, Erk." Hector greeted the two as they arrived in the camp. Serra was absolutely beaming with joy while Erk looked like he had gotten run over by a bunch on Generals who were on a ten-mile run. Speaking of which…

"Whoo! Glad to see I've still got it!" Oswin ran past, puffing as he jogged in his heavy armor. Hector, Serra, and Erk watched the general go before returning to their conversation.

"Thanks…Hector…" Erk sighed and plopped on the ground, exhausted from running all around Ostia with Serra.

"That's very mean, Hector!" Serra grew angry and poked Hector's nose.

"Ow!" Hector staggered backwards. "Hey! That hurt!"

"Erk was nice enough to come with me on my trip, so I won't have you being all mean to him!" Serra continued poking Hector's nose until the lord slapped her hand away. Serra then started poking at Hector's stomach. "He's much nicer than you, Hector!"

Erk smiled tiredly and ran off, abandoning the lord to his fate. "Thanks Hector!"

"Erk! Get back here! Ow, stop poking me! Dammit, Serra!" Hector tried pushing the cleric away, but Serra continued berating him.

"And another thing! Why don't you ever give me vassals? I'm royalty, you know! It's fully within my right to demand vassals from you! But here I am, kindly _asking_ you to give me some vassals! It doesn't even have to be lots of vassals! One or two will suffice!"

Hector edged backwards, trying to ward off Serra. _'Ooooh…Erk is so going to pay for this!'_ Hector brightened as he came up with an idea. "Oh…So you want a vassal, huh?"

"Yes!" Serra smiled, glad that Hector had finally gotten the hint.

"Okay…Here it is…" Hector whispered the name of the vassal is Serra's ear. The pink-haired cleric brightened and clapped her hands merrily.

"Thanks Hector! I'll never forget this!" Serra rushed off to go find her new vassal, squealing happily.

"…I hope you forget it…I don't need anyone tracing it back to me." Hector sighed and walked off, rubbing his sore nose and muttering about evil clerics.

_---_

'_Ah…I finally got away.'_ Erk leaned back on his cot, calmly reading a book. The mage breathed out a long sigh of satisfaction. _'Serra is way too energetic and loud…She'd be quite nice to hang out with if she wasn't so…obnoxious and dense, I guess. Oh well.'_ Erk sighed happily again and flipped the page. Erk enjoyed the peace and quiet of reading over all else, and nothing seemed to be able to penetrate this blissful mood he was in.

Except for a certain pink-haired, obnoxious, dense, oblivious, pigtailed cleric, that is.

"Erky!" Serra burst into Erk's tent, interrupting the mage from his blissful reverie. Erk leaped up from his sitting position, the book leaping from his hands and thudding onto the floor.

"S-Serra!" Erk stuttered, stunned at this sudden intrusion of his privacy. "What are you doing here?"

"You're my new vassal, Erky!" Serra wrapped her arms out of Erk's neck happily, not realizing she was choking the poor mage.

"S-Serra! You're…You're choking me!" Erk struggled against her grip, but failed.

"Oh, I'm sorry, Erk!" Serra released Erk and began hugging him by his chest instead. Erk tried pushing her off to no avail.

"Why are you here, Serra?" Erk tried reasoning with her instead.

"You weren't paying attention!" Serra released Erk and stood up, angry. "It's not polite for a vassal to ignore the words of his master!"

"WHAT?" Erk stared at Serra, who continued glaring at him. "I'm your vassal?"

"Didn't Hector tell you? I'm your master now! You have to serve me!" Serra smiled happily, tugging on Erk's arm. Erk was too stunned to resist, and the pink-haired cleric hauled Erk to his feet and began dragging him around the camp, eager to show off her new vassal. The only thoughts that ran through Erk's mind were,

'_Ohhhh…Hector, I am so going to kill you for this.'_

_---_

A couple of more days had passed, and Erk felt even more wretched. Serra had made him carry her things, comb her hair, massage her feet, and everything else that required menial labor. Erk was tired and lots of his mental energies were occupied with thinking up a suitable punishment for Hector.

"Hurry up, Erky! We're almost late for dinner!" Serra turned and faced her vassal, who was huffing as he carried tons of packages.

"Can't…you….carry…any of the…packages?" Erk panted heavily, leaning under the weight of all the boxes. Serra glared angrily at Erk, who withered under the stare.

"Don't you understand! I am your master! It is unseemly to see a lord do the work of her vassal!"

"But you're not even a lord!"

"Of course I am! Now hurry up, Erky!" Serra turned and flounced off, leaving Erk behind. Erk heaved a long sigh and picked up his packages again. The purple-haired mage lugged the packages to Serra's tent. He would have to do something about this situation.

Erk dumped the merchandise outside of Serra's tent and rushed off before the cleric realized he hadn't finished his job. The mage fled towards his tent, where he crashed into Matthew.

Erk got up from the floor, rubbing his pounding head. "Ow…." He was certain he broke something. Matthew helped the young mage stand.

"What's the rush, Erk? Running away from Serra?" Matthew grinned.

"Right…How'd you guess?" Erk moaned in pain.

"You always run away from Serra."

"Touché."

"So, what's the problem this time?" Matthew cocked his head towards Serra's tent.

"Serra made me her vassal and she's making me do everything for her! It's pissing me off! Why does she have to be just a brat?" Erk shouted in despair. Matthew frowned and pulled Erk inside the mage's tent.

"Hey, hey, don't let her hear you. She's quite the fragile person." Matthew put a finger to his lips and Erk stared at him.

"Serra? FRAGILE?" Erk tried to restrain a laugh but failed. "She is anything but fragile! That cleric is the most obnoxious, conceited girl I have ever met!"

"Yeah, well, that's just what she shows everyone else. I mean, it's not that hard to understand if you know her past." Matthew winked. "Do you want to know? Want to find out if she's royalty or not?"

Erk thought about it and nodded. "Of course!"

"One-thousand gold." Matthew held out a hand.

Erk gaped at the thief. "One-thousand gold? That's a rip-off!"

"Do you want to know or not?" Matthew waggled his finger at Erk's face. Erk sighed and slid a one-thousand gold note into the thief's hand. Matthew pocketed it and smiled.

"Well, here it is." Matthew drew out a small sheaf of papers. "Have fun!" Matthew walked out of the tent, whistling happily since he was one-thousand gold richer.

Erk stuck his tongue out at Matthew and started reading the papers. Strangely enough, it was written like a letter to him. Erk scanned the letter's contents.

"_Dear Erk,_

_I'm sure you're reading this because you are currently under the employ of Serra as he vassal. Don't ask me how I know this. I know everything around here. EVERYTHING. Anyway…Since you asked about Serra's past, I have compiled a handy little reference guide, just for you. And for that one-thousand gold you're going to pay me."_

Erk glared at the paper. "Stupid thieves." He continued reading.

"_Serra - Cleric of Ostia  
__Age: 16  
__Height: 5' 6"  
__Hair Color: Pink  
__Weight: Well, let's just say it was unavailable, okay?_

_Let's see…Serra is not royalty. I repeat, she is not royalty. I bet you're glad to see that one, aren't you? Actually, Serra was abandoned in front of an orphanage when she was only around two years old. She lived a mediocre life there, since the orphanage was constantly out of supplies they needed, such as food and water. Occasionally, the orphanage was visited by monks from a nearby church. I suspect this is the reason why Serra decided to become a cleric and follow their teachings. _

_Anyway, Serra has absolutely no recollection of her past. While at the orphanage, she was actually not as bratty as she is now, but then a couple of bullies there decided to have fun tormenting her. Insults, pranks, beatings, the works. The leader of the orphanage put a stop to these attacks, but the damage was done. Serra decided to pretend that her parents were highly important members of the Etrurian court that were secretly watching her so that no one would harm her. I'm sure that sounds like a piece of bullshit to you and me, but to her, it was her only vision of a family so she just decided to believe it. _

_When she grew old enough, she left the orphanage and joined the Ostian church and became a cleric there. Lord Uther, who was one of the visitors to the old orphanage, recognized her and decided to bring her to the Ostian castle and make her a permanent resident. While some of the other people objected strongly to this, thanks to Serra's loud mouth and mannerisms, Lord Uther remained staunch in his decisions. I should know. I was one of those protestors. _

_So here we are now, and Serra has grown even more obnoxious and loud. And yet she still clings to her belief that she is part of Etruria royalty. Certainly Lord Uther didn't try to dissuade her from that illusion, since he was busy and he thought that Serra could use some sort of foundation for her background. So there you go, Erk! Better be a nice vassal! Oh, and in a couple of minutes, Serra's going to ask you to give her a massage." _

Erk looked up from the paper. _'So that's why…Hmmm…Maybe I have been a little too harsh. Just didn't know.' _Erk sighed and shook his head, sliding the sheaf of papers into a small chest. He sighed and leaned backwards.

"Erky! I need you to give me a massage!"

Erk sat up and groaned dismally. "Stupid thieves…"

_---_

Erk stood outside of the flap of Serra's tent, bracing himself to go inside.

"Hurry up, Erky! A royal princess can't be kept waiting!" Serra's voice emerged from inside.

Erk steeled himself and entered Serra's tent. He found Serra sitting on her bed, stretching. "I can't wait all day, Erky. I'm Etrurian royalty and you're my vassal! You should feel honored!"

"Uh…Serra? You really aren't royalty, are you?"

"What makes you say that? Of course I'm royalty! I was just found in Ostia because…uh…my parents had a little trouble! They knew that the orphanage was a great place, so they decided to leave me there while they got their affairs in order!" Serra shouted frantically. "I'm sure they'll be back for me and I can return to my rightful home. Yeah…That's right. I'm sure they're come back for me…" Serra looked at the floor sadly.

"Serra…" Erk looked at her, compassion blossoming in his heart.

"And when my parents get back, you'll _have _to be my vassal!" Serra stood up, going slightly hysterical.

Erk raised his hands and shook his head. "Serra…I know you're not royalty."

"Stop saying that! I _am_ royalty, okay?" Tears were leaking out of Serra's eyes as she stomped on the floor angrily. "All those people who say I'm not are just lying! They don't know the truth!"

"Serra-" Erk began, but Serra stopped him.

"Stupid 'Serra'-ing me! Serra this! Serra that! Why can't you just believe me? Why not, Erk?" She gazed pleadingly at Erk, tears still coming out of her eyes.

"But Matthew-"

"Matthew is just a dirty, thieving liar! Don't believe whatever he says! He's just trying to rattle me! Yeah, that's it! He has no proof that I'm not royalty!" Serra continued on her rant, growing more and more hysterical.

"I'd better leave then…" Erk turned to go, but Serra grabbed his arm and turned him around.

"Please…Please don't go?" Serra said, practically begging him. Erk sighed and went back inside.

"Look, Serra. I know what happened. You don't have to pretend anymore…Okay?" Erk looked at Serra, his gaze frank.

"I'm not pretending!" Serra shrieked, tears still falling out. "I'm…I'm…I'm royalty! I know it! M-My parents are going to come!" Serra stopped shouting and shuddered, sobbing.

"Serra…"

"Stop saying that! Everyone is just so mean! Why can't they believe I'm royalty…?" Serra continued crying, tears still falling down her cheeks.

"Look…You can trust us…No one is going to hurt you."

"How do you know that, huh? W-Well…T-They wouldn't if they knew my parents…My noble parents…Are coming for me! N-No one else cares…B-But I know my parents do!"

Erk gazed sadly at her as she hiccupped. The cleric hiccupped again and she huffed angrily. "N-Now look w-what you did!"

Erk couldn't let her continue feeling this way. He stepped closer to the cleric and caressed her tear-streaked face. "…I care, Serra." Then he dived in for the kiss.

Serra's eyes widened and her arms instinctively moved to Erk's back. The cleric closed her eyes, savoring the feeling as Erk ran his hands through her hair. Erk pulled her closer, slowly pushing against Serra's lips with his tongue. Serra's mouth opened slightly and Erk's tongue slipped in, tangling with Serra's. Erk felt sparkles explode in his mouth and after he ran out of breath, he released her, breathing heavily.

Serra stared at Erk, her eyes shining with tears again, except this time they were happy tears. She blinked them away and twisted a stray strand of Erk's hair with her fingers. "….Erky?"

"Yes, Serra…Don't worry…I care. And I'll protect you from any bullies." Erk smiled at Serra. His fingers worked at the ties in Serra's hair, releasing her pigtails so the hair fell back on her back. "You look a lot better without those."

"Really?" Serra touched her hair nervously. "Erk…I may not be royalty…But can you be my vassal? For at least a day?"

Erk smiled and sat on knee on the ground. He bowed to her. "Of course, Serra. For today…And maybe more…I will be glad to be your vassal."

Serra smiled happily and brought Erk up for another kiss.

_---_

"_Are you sure this is the best thing? She's our only daughter!"_

"_Don't worry…I'm sure she'll be raised in very loving hands here."_

"_But dear! Our only daughter? She's so young…"_

"_Maybe one day…When we can…We will come back and show her what she missed due to our mistakes."_

"…_Goodbye, daughter. Know that always…We will be watching you…and waiting for the day we can return and bring you back to your family. We will always love you, my dear daughter."_

"_I wish that fortune will smile on you, Serra, my daughter."_

"…"

"_Come…We better go back to Etruria. War is calling, and it may be our only way to regain what we have lost."_

"_We will be back…Dear Serra, our little angel." And with that, Serra's mother and father, nobles of Etruria, left, heading back to their home country.

* * *

_

Chris: Don't ask why I added that last part. I just felt like it, okay? I mean, the game never explicitly says that Serra isn't a daughter of nobility. She just acts like it. And besides, if she was raised at the orphanage when she was really young, she probably wouldn't remember this anyway.

Hope you enjoy it, and review please!


	6. My Beautiful Rose

Chris: I was bored.

**Inferno-Hero: **Yeah…Sorry about that…But I kinda started this before you made that and I kinda forgot to change it. And yes, yes I did.

**F00l3Al2: **Well, Ephraim/Myrrh isn't _that_ odd. Kinda.

**Cool-chan: **Wow. No one likes Serra. Sucks for her.

**Nightmare3: **Don't worry. You'll see it soon enough. And you're gonna like it! Yep, yep.

**MiSs JoVaNNa: **Thanks.

**Min the Noodle: **Thanks for all the compliments! I'm glad you liked it!

Disclaimer: Don't own Fire Emblem.

* * *

**My Beautiful Rose**

"Rebecca! My pig-tailed goddess!" Sain dashed halfway across the camp, yelling at the top of his lungs. His dark-brown hair flew behind him as he raced towards the archer, his armor clanking around him.

"What is it, Sain?" Rebecca turned and looked at the cavalier tiredly. "We've already been through this hundreds of times. I don't like you. You hit on too many girls. And besides, Raven is just sooo much cooler than you are." She let out a small squeal before hurrying off, her pigtails bouncing behind her.

"Raven…Cool? Hah! I, Sir Sain of Caelin, am infinitely cooler than Raven is!" Sain yelled at Rebecca before turning away from her departing figure. He sighed sadly and looked up, only to see Lyn's smiling face. "Lady Lyndis! How glad I am to see such a ravishing beauty standing in front of me! …Why _are_ you standing in front of me?"

Lyn muffled a giggle and looked at the cavalier sternly. "It has come to my attention that you are a nuisance around camp!"

"Nuisance? Why…I am _not_ a nuisance!" Sain huffed indignantly.

"Yeah, well all of the girls believe you are." Lyn said matter-of-factly.

"Name them!"

"Priscilla-"

A pan came out of nowhere and clonked Sain in the head. You know, like in those anime where the main character is depressed and his friends diss him. Except this was a real pan.

"Ouch! What the hell?" Sain rubbed his head and looked around for the culprit.

"Hee hee hee…" Nils ducked behind a tent and pulled out another pan.

"Anyway….Then there was Fiora-"

Another pan came out and clonked Sain in the head. Sain yelled in pain and rubbed his head again, feeling a bump swell.

"That's it! If I find out whoever hit me on the head with these stupid pans, I'm gonna kill them!" Sain whirled around angrily, his eyes narrowed.

"I think I'll stop before you get hit by another pan." Lyn chuckled nervously. "Anyway…I'm pretty certain the other girls find you a nuisance, so leave them alone, okay?" Lyn poked Sain on the shoulder.

"B-But…That is impossible! How could I ignore such beauty?" Sain looked incredulously at his lord, his mouth wide open.

"Stop gaping. You look like a fish." Lyn pushed him away, smiling. "It's quite sad, actually. I think Farina asked for some sort of warrant that would prohibit you from stepping within ten feet from her. Only she would do something like that."

Sain closed his mouth, but he still looked stupefied. "How could she do this to me! Ooooh…I am wounded in my very soul!" Sain clenched his hand, holding it to his heart. "My beautiful angels! How could you withdraw your forgiving light after shining on me for all these years?"

"You've only known most of them for a couple of months, Sain." Lyn put her hands on her lips, looking wryly at the overly dramatic cavalier.

"Be quiet! To my still-beating heart, it felt like centuries! And now! Now! They leave me! To live my life without a guardian angel! A beautiful rose! A lovely, ethereal creature! Oh, how the fates conspire to keep me away from those I love!" Sain turned his teary face to the sky, still acting his part as the spurned lover.

Lyn suppressed another laugh. "Stop it. You're acting stupid."

"Yeah, well I guess it _was _going over the top, huh?" Sain stopped and chuckled, rubbing the back of his head. "But still! How could they do such things to me, those scintillating nymphs of war!"

"Uh…Because you annoyed them?" Lyn smiled. "Come of it, Sain. Heck, if you weren't my vassal, I'd probably do the same thing they did."

Sain stopped and turned towards the green-haired nomad. "You mean, my darling Lyndis, that you-"

"Don't push it." Lyn frowned.

"Got it." Sain stopped himself and sighed. "But I really do think you look lovely in this light!"

"Really?" Lyn blushed, then froze. "Oh….I can't believe I fell for one of the shallowest compliments ever."

"I wasn't being shallow!" Sain protested. "You truly look lovely, my beautiful rose!"

"Oh, stop it!" Lyn stamped her foot down angrily. "Come on, Sain! I think it's time I introduced you to a couple of friends of mine."

"More girls?" Sain brightened.

"No! Tonight's trash! Wash the dishes, Sain!" Lyn threw Sain towards a pile of dirty dishes that were lying on a table. "These were brave soldiers that died in the line of duty, holding our food while we ate it! So go over there and give them a proper burial!"

Sain stumbled but caught himself before he plunged face first into the ground. "Lyn…Are you okay?"

"Of course I am!" Lyn yelled, her face flushed an angry red. "Now get back to work before I sharpen my sword on your thick head!"

"Right away, Lady Lyndis!" Sain yelped and started washing the dishes as fast he possibly could. Lyn cracked her knuckles as a sort of a final warning and stomped off, leaving the brown-haired cavalier to his dish washing business.

Sain watched from the corner of his eye as Lyn slowly walked away. When the green-haired girl was out of sight, Sain gave a big sigh and slumped on the ground, moaning.

"Not fair…" The cavalier pushed himself back up and continued washing the dishes. _'Sigh…She's my lord, so I have to do this stuff. But I hate washing dishes…They'll get my hands dirty! And you can't woo girls with dirty hands! Speaking of girls…Do I repulse them **that** much? But I'm sure there is a girl out there for me!'_

"Washing the dishes again, Sain? What did you do to Lady Lyndis this time?" Kent, Sain's overly honorable cavalier partner, walked up to Sain with a slight smile on his face. "Did you grope her?"

"Of course not!" Sain reddened, but then he grinned. "Hmm…I wonder…"

Kent smacked Sain upside the head. "No dirty thoughts! She is our lord, Sain!"

"Ow!" Sain rubbed his head, soaking it with soap bubbles. "Aw crap."

Kent's face squeaked out a small smile before returning to its normal, dutiful appearance. "So…Why _are _you washing the dishes?"

"Let's see…I think Lady Lyn got angry at me when I started hitting on her." Sain chuckled.

"Sain, Sain, Sain…What am I going to do with you?" Kent shook his head sorrowfully. "Have fun washing dishes. I believe you'll be washing plenty of dishes in your lifetime."

"Talking to Hannah, huh? Betcha like her!" Sain grinned widely.

"WHAT? Sain! That's it! You're on permanent guard duty! Report in ten minutes!" Kent shuddered angrily before stalking away.

"Aw, come on, Kent! You know I didn't mean it!" Sain yelled pleadingly, but his friend didn't seem to hear him. Sain slammed his fist angrily, only to shatter one of the plates he was working on. Sain cursed as a shard cut through his hand and he brought his other hand up to cover the wound. "Damn dishes." The cavalier rushed to the healer's tent, hoping that the plate shard wouldn't infect him or anything.

"Hey Sain! Look, I'm sorry about the dishes but…" Lyn walked up to the…uh…dish washing place, looking for the cavalier. She paused as she saw the broken dishes and the fact that the cavalier wasn't there. "Dammit! Men! Especially those kind of men!" Lyn stamped the ground angrily. "Give him one simple task-! I can't believe I came to apologize to him!" She huffed and stalked back to her tent.

_---_

"It's okay, Sain. Nothing to be worried about." Priscilla carefully applied the bandage on the wound and patted it. "That's it."

"Thanks Priscilla! My beauti-…Heh, thanks." Sain chuckled sadly and walked out, smiling.

"Serra? Did you notice anything…different about Sain?" Priscilla turned to her pigtailed companion.

The pink-haired cleric looked up from her book and shrugged. "Not really. Why? Did he not leave any roses this time?"

"He didn't try _anything_ this time!" Priscilla said. "It's…kind of weird, actually. I'm missing the times when he would compliment me."

"Aw, he's probably just pre-occupied with something! Give him time!"

"Well, okay."

_---_

The day passed and everyone enjoyed eating breakfast on their clean dishes, except for Hector because he didn't have one. So Hector became all angry and declared that they would go shopping for a new plate that was personalized just for him. The common reply was, "What's he going to personalize it with? Bunnies and sunshine rays? What a waste of time!"

So as the days passed while Hector continued searching for a person who could make plates and customize them to his specific tastes, people, mainly the girls, were wondering about Sain. Noticeably the fact that he wasn't hitting on them, for one. In fact, many people were wondering where he was. They knew he was in the camp, except he'd always disappear when they walked towards him. So the girls decided to hold a "KEEP OUT GUYS!" counsel.

"Okay. Someone tell me what happened to Sain. Now." Farina slapped her hand on the wooden table, signaling the beginning of the meeting.

"Look, if you don't know, what makes you think we know?" Serra shouted. "You're the one with the money. You should be able to bribe his partner or something!"

"Uh…Already tried that? Turns out Kent has no idea either. Not like he accepted my money…Which is a good thing." Farina looked to her sister, Fiora. "Did you find out anything?"

"Not a clue." Fiora shook her head.

"Florina?"

"N-No…"

Farina heaved a sigh. "Now, I'm not saying it's a bad thing, but it's creeping me out! Sain! Acting like…like…Erk! Come on! It's something you should never, ever see!"

"Well, maybe this is a good thing. He's stopped annoying us…Right?" Rebecca looked up from her position, throwing in her own vote.

"True…Hey Lyn. You were the last one who really talked to him. What'd you say? Maybe that's why he's acting weird." Priscilla turned to the lord, startling her.

"Huh? Well, I just told him about how he was annoying us and stuff. And I made him wash the dishes."

"…He was the reason we're still stuck here?"

"Yeah…" Lyn nodded her head. "But I don't see why he would go through such a change!"

"Maybe he really does love one of us. And then when Lyn told him we wanted him to stop bothering him, it hurt him a lot."

"Aw, come on! Sain is made of sterner stuff than that!" Farina scoffed.

"Perhaps. Okay, meeting is adjourned. We'll see what happens in a week. If he still acts weird, then we must advance to drastic action."

"Agreed."

_---_

So, unbeknownst to Sain, he was being spied on by every female member of this camp. While he normally would have given a cheer and drink beer (See. I can rhyme.), now he thought they were trying to tease him or frame him for something. But then, being pestered by so many girls seemed like a dream to our dear Sain, so he decided to turn the tables. His lucky, or maybe unlucky, target turned out to be Lyn. Yep, Lady Lyndis.

'_Heh heh heh…Won't they be surprised. Besides, I'm tired of acting like a girl-shy guy! I'm gonna get myself a girl!" _Sain clenched his hand and raised it in victory as he waited for some girl to ask him something. Oh, and if you're wondering where he was, he was inside his tent. Yep. His tent.

"Sain? Are you in there?"

"Oh…Yeah…" Sain stood up and carefully arranged his face to look like he had no interest in girls. Which, of course, was a major task for him. He exited his tent to find Lyn standing outside, a smile on her face.

"Hi Sain!" Lyn had changed out of her traditional dress into a white, V-necked blouse that showed a bit of cleavage as well as a short skirt she had borrowed from Serra. Which meant it was pink. Yep.

Sain quickly had to avert his eyes before his nose exploded into a river of bloody…blood. Hiding tantalizing and most likely perverted thoughts in his mind, he gazed a point around three centimeters above Lyn's head, where he hoped his eyes would travel down to the part which would make his nose explode.

"So…Sain, how do you think I look?" Lyn stretched right in front of him, leaning _extremely _close to him.

"Ah…Um…" Sain shut his eyes tightly. "Lady Lyndis…Is something wrong with you? You usually never dress like that. And you're acting weird."

"Well, I'm not the only one acting weird." Lyn huffed and folded her arms. "The girls have been worried about you, you know?"

'_Screw it! I can't act…uh…what's the word…Stupid isn't it…Hell! Stupid it is! I can't act stupid like this anymore!' _Sain's eyes snapped open. "So…They've been worried about me?"

"Well, yeah! And I'm kind of afraid I hurt your feelings when I told you about how you annoyed them." Lyn looked to the ground. "I thought that if I dressed like this, you'd snap out of it."

"Heh heh heh…"

"What was that?" Lyn turned, only to see Sain stemming a flow of blood dripping from his nose. "Sain?" Lyn then realized what Sain was staring at. "You jackass!" She punched him in the stomach. "I can't believe you were…**_staring_** at my breasts! Have you no shame!"

"Hey! I wasn't the one showing them off to everyone within a five-mile radius! See? Eliwood's nose is bleeding too!"

"It is not!" Eliwood stuffed another piece of tissue in his nose and dashed off.

"So I am completely justified in staring at your…uh…goods! So…Wanna go into town for a drink? I'm buying!" Sain smiled his trademark smile at Lyn.

"W-What?" Lyn was still stunned by this complete turnaround from the earlier Sain.

"Is something the matter, my beautiful rose?" Sain took Lyn in his arms and ran his fingers through her hair, which wasn't tied in a ponytail for once.

"He's back!"

"And he's hitting on Lyn!"

"Let's kill him!"

Cheers and squeals from various happy and violent girls poured out from…let's just say the sky. Sain turned and his eyes widened as the girls in the army started glomping him and punching him in the stomach simultaneously. Farina stood over the mess, patting Lyn on the shoulder.

"See? I told you it would work."

"Uh…Y-Yeah…Right." Lyn looked away, her face red.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh…I don't know. I'm glad he's back to normal and all…"

"You're in love with Sain, aren't you? Hey guys! Lyn is in love with Sain!" Farina waved her arms, catching the attention of everyone there. All of the girls jumped off of Sain and began swarming Lyn, asking random and sometimes mundane questions.

"Really? Perfect for my newspaper!" Matthew jotted down some notes and strolled off. "Hector won't be so pleased 'bout this though. Oh well."

Sain staggered up, his face red from the heat and his stomach aching with pain. "Is…Is that true?"

"N-No! It isn't!" Lyn folded her arms and turned from Sain, her nose in the arm.

"Oh really?" Sain slowly walked up to the lord and wrapped his arms around her. Lyn froze and Sain took his chance to get closer. He slowly whispered in her ear, "Are you sure…my lovely eagle?"

"W-Well…" Lyn looked to the ground, her face flushing furiously. (Alliteration!)

"Because…I love you too, you know." Sain continued whispering in her ear.

"AWWWW! How cute!" The girls around them squealed happily, giggling and cheering.

"M-Maybe…" Lyn looked up at Sain, tilting her head. "Just maybe…"

"Don't worry…I think I can make you love me even more." Sain held her tighter to him. Lyn felt her heart race and she slowly felt herself sink into those brown eyes of his. Sain leaned down to kiss her and Lyn closed her eyes in anticipation. The girls around them held their breaths, waiting for the moment when the two kissed.

Sain leaned closer and moved his hands slightly. Then he stopped when he realized that he had planted his hands on her breasts. "Oops!"

Lyn froze and spun. "You just said those things so you could grope me!" She swung a fist at his head and knocked him back a couple of things.

"Sain's truly back! Yay!" The girls gave and cheer and swarmed around him again.

"Grumble…Pervert…Grumble…Jackass…" Lyn muttered to herself angrily as he brushed invisible dust from her clothes.

"Can't deny that you liked it thought, huh?" Farina snickered and then braced herself, just in case Lyn tried to hit her.

"Yeah…Well…Maybe." Lyn's smiled slightly. "Just maybe."

The lord turned back to where Sain had fallen. Sain was rubbing the back of his head and laughing, a wide smile lighting up his face. Lyn sighed and ran up to him, using the sleeve of her blouse to wipe away some of the blood on his face.

"Lyn?"

"Hush, you. I just don't want blood all over your face."

Sain's face softened. "Of course, my beautiful rose."

* * *

Chris: Yeah. There it is. There aren't enough Sain/Lyn stories. Actually…Are there Sain/Lyn stories? Read and review peoples, cause I'm going to see if I can get a job! 


	7. Natural Supremacy

Chris: For the reasons for this fic, just look at Childhood Friends. You'll get it.

**Duran the Warrior: **Ephraim x Myrrh is interesting. Except it seems way too much like Eliwood x Ninian.

**zeff:** Hmm…Maaaybe. But later. I already have two Sain fics in here.

**Inferno-Hero: **Sain needs more fics. He's awesome.

**kazekage26: **Nice to see a new person enjoying my stuff! Whoo!

**Lao Who Mai: **Yep. Sain/Lyn is a rare and extremely unwritten pairing. Sucks for them.

**Lokon: **Glad you like this so much.

**Draknal (x2): **Glad you like this archive so much! Hope you continue reading and enjoying my stories!

**arashisama: **To me, any pairing is possible if under the correct environment. Which is why I write these things. It's fun making up pairings that you don't think can happen. Like Erk x Serra. Wait…That's a real pairing…

**Min the Noodle: **Yeah…Poor, poor Sain. He gets no respect. But unlike Ross, he has a reason he doesn't get any. And see? You gave me an idea for a chapter for Know Your Sins. All your fault. Not like that's a bad thing. And your thief character is interesting! She'll be in the story soon enough!

**randomfan: **Eh, sure, I guess. You might have a wait a while, cause I have a lot of other things that are more urgent on my list of updating. Like Fire Emblem Halloween.

**Tyrantress: **Thanks for the compliments. And I'd write Ephraim x L'Arachel…But it's canon and I have a problem with those type of pairings. Nah…I'll write it later. Cause the pairing in this chapter is canon too. I think.

**Nightmare3: **Glad you like it. And I'll review soon enough. -resurrects Nightmare3-

* * *

**Natural Supremacy**

"There you are."

"What?" Knoll, a gray-haired shaman from Grado, turned. "Great, it's you." He let out a long sigh. "Look, I have no intention of saying that I'm superior, okay?"

A young, female mage with purple hair folded her arms. She narrowed her eyes and shook her head, causing her pigtails to wave. "How do I not know you're lying?"

Knoll gave an exasperated sigh. "Lute, don't be stupid!"

"How dare you say I would be stupid? That's it! I'm going to make sure that **everyone** knows that I am the best!" The mage gave a huff and stalked off. As she left, she muttered a couple of words and launched a fireball at Knoll's head.

"Hey!" Knoll ducked and felt the fireball whiz over his head. Then he felt his hood catch fire and spent the better part of ten minutes trying to put it out. The shaman grumbled angrily and looked at the ruined part of his cloak.

"Some shaman I am…A shaman without a nice hood. I'll be the laughingstock of druids and shamans everywhere." Knoll groaned. He brushed soot and dust off of his cloak sleeve and glanced darkly at the direction where Lute has departed.

"I just don't understand that girl…" The shaman walked off, muttering distractedly.

_---_

During the course of the next couple of days, where the army spent its time leisurely by reading, fishing, taking long, idyllic walks on the grass, having romances, and kicking the asses of any random monsters that got within a ten mile radius of them, Lute had been busy. Busy doing what, you may ask? Busy proving that she was the best magic user in the whole camp.

And how was she accomplishing that? One, by challenging Knoll to duels every time she saw him and two, by using her magic powers everywhere in the camp. Finally, a band of people lead by Ephraim approached Knoll and asked him to halt her behavior.

"What? Why me? It's not my fault!" The shaman looked up from his notes, looking astonished.

"Look, Lute's been challenging you to duels for the past couple of days. Frankly, we think that might have something to do with her inflated ego, which, amazingly enough, has increased." Innes, the prince of Frelia, said sternly.

"It's still not as big as yours." Ephraim smiled jokingly.

"Ephraim…Perhaps you'd like to take this outside?" Innes fingered the string of his bow.

"Anytime you're ready to lose!" Ephraim softly pounded the butt of his lance into the ground.

"Sheesh. Our brothers fight so much that it's like they're in love with each other." Tana said to Eirika, giggling.

"Hee hee…Yeah!" Eirika smiled widely, giggling as well.

"Tana!"

"Eirika!"

"We'd better go! Have fun, boys!" Eirika and Tana left, laughing.

"Ephraim, this is your entire fault!" Innes drew his bow from his back and notched an arrow on it.

"What are you talking, Innes? If you didn't challenge me, they wouldn't have said that stuff!" Ephraim brought his lance up in a defensive stance.

"Sigh…I better leave." Knoll, who was forgotten by the two feuding lords, sighed and stood up, leaving his tent so he wouldn't get caught in the inevitable battle. As he left the tent, he heard battle cries resound behind him and the shaman let out another sigh. Time to search out Lute and make her shut up.

_---_

Lute looked up from her magic casting to see Knoll walking towards her. She grinned madly. "I see that you've come to take me out. You are afraid of my power, aren't you?"

"Uh…No, I'm not." Knoll stopped and looked exasperated. "Look, I'm just here so you can duel me and stuff, okay? Sheesh, everyone's getting angry at your behavior."

Lute looked ashamed, at least for a second or two. "Oh…I see…" She shook her head rapidly. "Never you mind! I will see how strong you are! You, wielder of the dark arts-"

"_What_ dark arts?" Knoll groaned. "Oh, don't tell me that you think that elder magic is evil also. That's pathetic. I thought you would know the truth, since you already brag about how you know everything."

Lute flushed, embarrassed. She tried to cover it up. "Y-You…You be quiet! You're just saying that because you know that I'm right!" She pointed a finger at Knoll. "You will be defeated by me because you are a threat to all that I stand for!"

Knoll looked incredulously at Lute. "**WHAT? **Are you listening to L'Arachel or something? Sheesh, you sound just like her with all of her divine justice stuff. Sigh…Sometimes I wish I never joined this army. I could have stayed at my house, studied my notes and researched everything I needed to know. But nooooo…I have to get stuck in an army with a girl that hates me."

"B-But…I don't really hate you…"

Knoll spread his arms wide, his cloak billowing out behind him. "If you want to duel, we might as well start right now."

Lute frowned. "Very well! If you will not back, then I must defeat you to reclaim my title as the greatest magician in the world!"

"Wait…_That's_ the reason why you wanted to fight me? I thought it was something like training for the fight against the Demon Lord. But you're telling me that you just want to fight me because you're afraid that people will think you're worse than me?" Knoll stopped.

"S-Shut up and fight me! Unless you're scared that I'll whip you into the ground!" Lute stamped the ground angrily.

"…I'm leaving. I have some very important things on the nature of the Dark Stone that I must study. I'm sorry, Lute, but not everyone is concerned whether or not you're the best. They just want to go home." Knoll turned and walked away from the female mage.

Lute stared at Knoll, feeling upset. "Hmph…I'll…I'll show him." She walked off, absentmindedly setting fire to a blade of grass. "Nobody ignores me…Especially not him…I'll show him who the strongest magic user is."

_---_

You know that blade of grass that Lute set on fire? Yeah, well, the fire spread and now the army had to stay in the exact same spot for a couple of days to sort out everything that had been destroyed, maimed, mangled, etc. Tsk, tsk, Lute. Kids shouldn't start forest fires. Or grass fires.

Knoll looked up from his notes, getting the feeling that something is wrong. "I think something is wrong…" He pushed back his chair and stood up. And then he found out what was wrong.

"Knoll! Come out and face me!" Lute's voice penetrated the fabric of the tent, landing harshly on the shaman's ears. Knoll gave another sigh (he had been doing that way too much lately), and walked out of his tent, holding an elder magic tome.

Lute blushed slightly when she saw the shaman walk out of his tent, but quickly hid it. "I see you have come to face me at last! Now we shall see who the greatest magician is!"

Knoll shrugged. "You know what? You can just be the best. I don't care. I just care about bringing peace to this land and letting Prince Lyon truly die, okay?"

"B-But…" Lute stepped forward, her eyes pleading.

"But what?" Knoll softened as he saw the desperate look in Lute's eyes.

"I-I just want to see how strong you are. Please…Just a little battle?" Lute stepped a little closer to the shaman.

"Well, if you'll leave me alone…Very well." Knoll readied himself for a short fight.

Lute smiled slightly and brought out a nature magic tome. "I will show you who is the strongest."

"Yes, yes, of course." Knoll muttered. "Let's begin."

Lute called upon the forces of nature and the sky darkened above her. Chanting slowly, she fired a blast of lightning at Knoll's head. The shaman cursed and ducked, the blast of electricity sizzling over his head. And setting his hood on fire.

"Not again…" Knoll threw off his cloak and stamped out the fire, gazing sadly at his ruined clothes. "You set my hood on fire twice in the past week! That is _not_ funny!"

Lute giggled evilly and launched a fireball at Knoll's ruined cloak. The shaman jumped off of it and the fireball incinerated what remained of the cloak. Knoll stared at the pile of dust.

"Now that's just mean." Knoll retaliated by shoot dark energy through the ground, causing a light quake that shook Lute off of her feet. The mage brushed off some dirt and smirked.

"Is that all you've got?"

Knoll just smiled. A second later, the ground under Lute exploded in dark fire and the mage was tossed up in the air before landing with a loud THUMP! Knoll followed up by launching a ball of elder magic at the purple-haired mage.

Lute coughed and shook her head, dazed. Her eyes widened as she saw the elder magic rushing towards her. Quickly, she wove a nature barrier using the inherent powers of her tome, but the barrier crumbled under the onslaught of the elder magic. She was launched backwards a couple of feet, landing on the ground coughing.

"Grr…You…" Lute struggled up and charged her hands with energy. She growled angrily and launched consecutive blasts of lightning and fire, all of which were converging on Knoll. Knoll threw up barrier after barrier of dark magic, but when his tome dissolved into ash, he jumped to the side and watched all of the lightning and fire blast right past him.

"Wait…If I could have just dodged them in the first place….What a waste of a tome." Knoll sighed dismally.

Lute walked up and stood over the distraught shaman, smiling widely. "Since you don't have a tome, that means I win!"

"Yeah, sure." Knoll pushed himself up. "Now to get on another cloak…Sigh."

"Knoll…I'm…Uh…Sorry." Lute looked down at the ground, a slight tinge of pink on her cheeks.

"Well, that's cheering."

"I guess I was wrong…Heh heh heh!" Lute grinned. "No one can defeat me! I am the best magician in the world! You are no longer a threat to my natural supremacy, so now I don't have to worry about you anymore."

"…"

"Thanks for the fight, Knoll. Just goes to show you who holds the real power here!" Lute laughed again and walked off.

"Hmph. Well, I better get back to my research." Knoll brushed the dirt off of his clothes and walked back towards his tent. He sighed and shook leaves out of his silver-gray hair.

"Knoll…?"

"Huh?" Knoll turned, only to see Lute standing in front of him, her hands behind her back. "Great…Are you stalking me again? I thought I told you that I don't like people stalking me. Besides, you were only stalking me to see if I was a threat to you."

"Knoll…" Lute looked at the ground, a faint blush spreading on her cheeks.

Knoll sighed. "Look, Lute…You are a powerful magician and a sweet girl…Kinda, but seriously, acting like this is not a great way to make friends."

"It's…not that."

"You sound like me when I was in lo-. Oh…Wow." Knoll gaped at the young mage, who nodded.

"Yes…Well, I guess…I don't know. Because you always seemed to dedicated to your task. And you know more than me….And I can't but respect and like someone who knows more than me…"

"Wow. Your ego is bigger than I thought."

"Don't ruin the moment. I guess…I just wanted to fight…To show that I cared for you."

"Great way to show it. But Lute…I don't know. We've never talked before. I have no idea what your personality is like, other than the fact that you're egotistical, persistent, stubborn, and a pyromaniac."

Lute sighed. "Thanks for telling me that."

Knoll smiled. "I'm sorry. But…We should talk first. I can't fall in love with someone I barely know."

Lute nodded happily. "Okay!" She giggled, which was something Knoll had never seen Lute do before. "But you must remember, I'm more powerful that you'll ever be!"

"Right, right…" Knoll sighed and let Lute take his hand.

_---_

"Huff…Huff…I'm going to beat you, Ephraim!" Innes launched another arrow at Ephraim, who knocked the arrow away with his lance.

"Not if I have anything to say about it!" Ephraim charged at Innes, swinging his lance like a club.

"Oooh! Looks like you two are having fun! Hee hee…Don't they make such a lovely couple, Eirika?" Tana looked at her friend, smiling widely.

"Yep! You can just see their affection as they try to kill each other! It's so sweet!" Eirika giggled madly.

"Hey Innes…Let's call this a draw." Ephraim stopped himself before he swung his lance at Innes' stomach.

"Good idea…" Innes narrowed his eyes. "Are you thinking the same thing I am?"

"Yep."

Ephraim and Innes turned towards their sisters, smiling wickedly. Eirika sweatdropped and looked at her friend.

"Something tells me we should run."

"Agreed!" Eirika and Tana ran for their lives while Ephraim and Innes chased after them, yelling obscenities.

"Get back here!"

* * *

Chris: Hah! Nobody's written a Knoll x Lute story yet! I claim first again! Review peoples! And yes, I know Knoll is kinda OOC. I never got his supports. I just read some off a site. Bah. I'll get some later. When he becomes really useful. Even though he's one of my favorite characters. Come on, you've got to love a guy with 0 luck. 


	8. Businessman of Bulgar

Chris: Bwahaha! After staring at my FE7 game, thinking of a pairing, I thought of one! And it's a pairing containing a character that has absolutely _no_ fics about him! At least…I'm pretty certain.

**Nightmare3: **Knoll x Natasha might be canon…But I don't know. And…Here's an update. It's not soon, but it's here!

**Cool-chan: **Yeah…Knoll is a really sucky unit. He's still awesome though. I like him. Thanks for the compliments!

**Draknal: **Glad you like it! Hope you continue reading!

**LoneWolfLink: **Hmm…Never gotten the Innes x L'Arachel supports before, but maybe I'll give it a shot if I get the supports.

**F00l3A2: **Haven't written yaoi or yuri yet, and frankly, I don't plan to anytime soon. Maybe something light, like shoujo/shonen-ai, but I dunno. It depends on my mood.

**Min the Noodle: **Cloaks are expensive…Especially the one I needed for my Canas costume. Luckily it wasn't set on fire and stuff. And it's always fun to see couples that argue like hell, but you know they love each other. Like Erk/Serra. Just kidding.

**kazekage: **Well…I'll do one, but it'll be in the future. I have the basic plot in mind, so it'll probably be up after this one.

**Diagheva: **Each other the chapters features a different pairing…So you probably won't see Erk x Fiora again in this collection. Maybe in a chaptered story, but not in here.

**CrossoverQueen: **Thanks for the compliments. And I'm glad you like that little part of the story.

**Tyrantess: **Thanks for the compliments!

* * *

**Businessman of Bulgar**

"I'm bored. What can I do?" Geitz, a purple-crimson haired wanderer settled under the branches of a great oak, relaxing in the shade. His axe was leaning against the trunk on his left and a tall glass of ale was sitting on the grass at his right. Geitz heaved a sigh and settled deeper into the shade. A cool breeze was blowing, the sun was shining merrily on the grassy plains, and he could hear sounds of some of the younger members of the army playing around.

To put it simply, Geitz was bored. Sure, sitting in the shade and enjoying the calm, cool nature of peace was great and all, but it was _boring._ And that's what Geitz hated the most. Well…Actually, it was second on the list of things he hated most, but it sure was damn close to the first thing on his list. Geitz reached to his left, forgetting that his ale was on his right side and picked up his axe. Bringing it to his lips, Geitz realized it was his axe, which was a good thing, since he would have given himself quite a serious injury if he had tried to drink his axe. Grumbling, Geitz put the bladed weapon away and picked up his ale, this time remembering where he had placed it.

He took a long sip. He took another long sip. And yet another long sip. And one more sip. And then the ale was gone. Geitz looked mournfully at the empty grass. "I'm bored."

"Hello Geitz." A tall, teal-haired girl stepped out from behind the tree and smiled at the wanderer. She was dressed in a plain, white blouse and a teal-blue skirt that fell to the top of her knees. The girl had teal eyes that matched the color of her hair and wore a white headband.

The wanderer groaned inwardly. "Hi Fiora." She wasn't a person he really wanted to see at the moment. Because she reminded him of everything that was number one on his list of things he hated. And that was his father and the Merchant Guild of Bulgar. He despised those people with a passion. And sadly enough, Fiora believed that they were all saints.

"Why aren't you enjoying this break with the others?" Fiora sat down next to Geitz, smoothing her skirt against her legs. Geitz looked at her and frowned slightly. She seemed unusually cheerful. Fiora was often seen patrolling for enemies, not taking a relaxing break under the shade of a tree. She probably wanted to talk about the Merchant's Guild.

"I don't feel like it." Geitz shrugged. "Maybe some other time." The warrior pushed himself off of the wet grass and brushed stray leaves off of his clothes. Fiora quickly stood up as well.

"I see. Um…Uh, well, maybe we can talk?" Fiora asked hopefully. Geitz groaned mentally. He was right. She wanted to talk about the Merchant's Guild. He gave up.

"Sure, why not…" Geitz mumbled and he started walked. Fiora was right at his side.

"I never really thanked you for all that your father has done for the country of Ilia." Fiora spoke.

"Yeah, yeah. Big whoop. He doesn't deserve your thanks." Geitz shoved his hands down the pockets of his pants, grumbling.

"What do you mean?" Fiora turned to look at Geitz. "He is our hero! When the harvest was poor, he traveled all the way up to our lands and helped us through those tough times. And afterwards, he donated tools and equipment to us!"

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Geitz continued his grumbling. "Good for all, huh?" Geitz kicked at the dirt. "I'm going to my tent. I'm tired." He walked off, leaving behind a confused Fiora. She stared at him as he slowly walked back towards the camp.

"Why doesn't he like his father?"

_---_

Geitz grimaced as he sat underneath _another_ tree. Once again, it was time for the tactician's weekly party break. He really didn't understand the custom, but it kept the army members happy, and happy and unstressed soldiers fought better. A cool breeze was still blowing, the sun was still shining, the grass was still green, and unfortunately, Geitz was still bored.

Hands behind his head, he leaned against a tree, an aspen this time. And once again, he heard rustling behind him. "Hello Fiora."

"How'd you know it was me?" The teal-haired pegasus knight said, amazed. She stepped out from behind the tree, holding a small, leather sack.

"Skill. What's inside there?" Geitz pointed to the bag. While curiosity wasn't his thing, it just seemed interesting. Fiora handed the bag to Geitz, who took it uneasily.

"It's for you, Geitz! Florina, Farina, and I put some thank you gifts in there because you helped us out." Fiora smiled happily and sat down next to the warrior. "I don't know why you're so angry about your father, but please, accept these gifts from us."

Geitz didn't open the bag. "Well…Fine. I guess." He hung it onto the belt tied around his waist. Fiora's happy composure faltered slightly.

"…Aren't you going to open it?"

"I'll open it when I believe I have the right to open it." Geitz folded his arms and closed his eyes, basking in the shade of the tree. Fiora looked at him, one of her eyebrows raised.

"Why do you say that?" Fiora felt…worried, slightly. She had never encountered someone who despised his father so much and wouldn't have anything that remotely had anything to do with the Merchant's Guild.

Geitz's eyes opened. "Look, I might have been on that trip to Ilia to help you guys out, and believe me, I loved helping. I saw that you people were suffering and I did the utmost I could to help. But then, I was with the Merchant's Guild. And now, I'm not. I want to have nothing to do with them."

"But…you've done so much for us on the battlefield as well, protecting us from the enemy." Fiora protested, but Geitz stopped her.

"That is because it's my duty…And because I'm bored. There is no need for thanks on that matter. If you really must give them to someone, give them to Eliwood or something."

Fiora huffed angrily. "Well! I decided to give them to you…And they're going to be yours, whether you like it or not!" She stood up. "I don't know why you hold a grudge against your father or the Merchant's Guild, but you don't have to be rude to us as well!" Fiora stalked off, her fists clenched.

Geitz opened his eyes and watched her walk away. Shrugging mentally, he closed his eyes and went back to sleep, the bag hanging from his belt.

_---_

'_Hmph, that jerk! Why does he act that way? His father helped us out so much! And here he is, snubbing off his father like he was nothing!'_ Fiora ranted in her mind, insulted by the behavior that Geitz was showing. She wasn't watching where she was going, so it was a big surprise to her _and_ Dart when the two crashed into each other.

"Ow…mate…Watch where you're going." Dart shook his head dazedly.

"Ouch…Sorry, Dart." Fiora helped the pirate stand up. "It was my mistake. I wasn't looking where I was going."

"Aye? Well, I wasn't looking either, so it'll be both our faults." Dart grinned his pirate grin. "What's botherin' you, missie? Not like you to not pay attention."

"Oh…Well, it's Geitz. He's acting like an idiot." Fiora sighed helplessly. "He seems to hold this untold hatred against his father for some reason. His father was such a great man."

Dart nodded thoughtfully. "He didn't tell ya much about his old man, did he?"

"No. Why?" Fiora looked at him, confused. "Should he have?"

"His old man…He was a bastard, to put it simply. That mission to Ilia…All of it was charity for his company. Geitz's pop thought that if he did something good for the people, he'd be rewarded with bigger sales."

Fiora's face fell. "So…Geitz's father didn't do it from the goodness of his heart?"

Dart shook his head. "Nope. Hell, Geitz was the only one who did it with any real effort. Geitz told me all about how his old man had complained about traveling to Ilia. 'It's too cold!' or 'I'm tired!'. To me, he sounded like an old grandma." The pirate grinned. "And actually, it was Geitz that ordered that shipment of supplies to send to you guys after the little 'charity' event."

"Really?" She turned and looked at where Geitz was sitting. "Why didn't he say anything?"

"Modest." Dart grimaced. "Too modest. He doesn't like people fawning over him. Doesn't like praise for deeds he does to help others. I don't know why, cause I would certainly like the praise."

"I know you would." A small smile appeared on Fiora's face. "Well, I can see why he hates his father and the merchants…But that doesn't seem to explain everything."

Dart nodded. "You're right. It doesn't. I'm sure you've heard of people who were hired by his father's company? Good pay, nice living conditions, great community?"

"Yeah. Sometimes, I even planned to join them."

"Complete lies, those bastards. People who sign up literally become slaves. They are paid and housed, but everything they need to survive, they can only buy at the shops that the merchants own. And the prices there are high. They spend more money than they gain." Dart said.

"That's…terrible…" Fiora mumbled.

"Aye, 'tis true. Geitz saw the conditions the workers had to endure. He's hated his father ever since. And each day, more of the workers escape, and not by accident, if you get my drift." Dart pushed himself up. "Now you see." The pirate walked off.

"Hm…Yes…I see…" Fiora stood up as well, brooding. She walked off as well, silently with her thoughts.

_---_

"Geitz?"

'…_Not again…'_ Geitz said mentally. He had just finished eating his dinner, and now it was time for sleep. Granted, not many people went to bed this early in the evening, but Geitz was different. He was bored. Seriously bored. But not bored enough to warrant another questioning by Fiora. _'Gods, she's persistent.'_

"Listen…I'm sorry about all of the trouble I caused earlier." The pegasus knight stood behind the wanderer, clasping her hands. "I…I just spoke with Dart."

"That stupid pirate." Geitz grumbled. "Never knows when to keep his damn mouth shut."

"Why do you want to keep your deeds hidden?" Fiora walked up to the front of Geitz, staring at him with her teal eyes. "You've done so much for the people! When are you going to do something for yourself?"

"When I feel I've made up for my father's selfishness." Geitz said, his face expressionless.

"Then why don't you go back to Bulgar and try to reform the Merchant's Guild? Someone like you could actually do something to help!" Fiora spoke, her voice passionate.

"Hah! You don't know those fools! If I had a chance, I'd lop off their heads and never look back!" Geitz snorted. "Reform, you say? Reform! Those pig-headed idiots don't want to lose their precious gold to the people! They want to stay rich. Going back there could be the biggest mistake I would make. My brother, Geese, will take over. He's got more of a head for business sense anyway. I'll…I'll think of something."

Fiora sighed. "Well, I guess you would have made a bad merchant anyway."

"Now what is that supposed to mean? I can be as good as any one of those morons back at Bulgar!" Geitz eyes flared angrily.

Fiora held up her hands. "No! It's not like that…You're…You're too compassionate, too caring to be a cold businessman. You would never gain a profit."

"I'm not in the business of helping people for profit, okay? It's only because that is the right thing to do." Geitz smirked. "And I'm always bored. Gives me something to do."

Fiora stifled a smile behind her hand. "Right…I was wondering…After all this is done…Maybe you could use an assistant."

"Me?" Geitz's eyes widened. "You? Hah. Nobody would ever believe us, if I get what you're saying. Go for some other guy, like Sain. I'd be too boring."

"Sometimes…Boring is good. It always leaves you ready for something new to do, right?" Fiora laughed. "And I know what being bored feels like. I'm a pegasus knight, remember? Sailing in the skies, with no one to talk to…You get bored quite easily."

"I see…I will contemplate having you as my…assistant. But I'll need to think about it first." Geitz mock glared at the teal-haired girl. "What made you want to be with me anyway?"

"Your selfishness. Your generosity. Everything, really." Fiora stepped a little closer, closing the gaps between her body and his.

"Right…" Geitz looked at her luminous, teal eyes. "Maybe…the time to think won't be as long as I feared…"

The gap shrunk as their bodies came closer and closer. Fiora brought her lips closer to Geitz's, her breath blowing on the wanderer's lips. A second more, and the gap was gone, Fiora holding Geitz to her tightly as she slowly kissed him.

_---_

After the war, Geitz did as he said and he thought about what he would do for his future. And thought, and thought. Finally, he decided on his path. Bringing Fiora, they traveled to Bulgar where Geitz opened up his own business. However, his wasn't concerned with hiring other people to work for him. While he obviously could use workers, he only hired people he believed had enough compassion for those who suffered. Fiora, who later became his wife, assisted him in this task.

Geitz's aimed for his business to help everyone on every corner of Elibe. A daunting task, to be sure, and Geitz was uncertain that he and his employees could handle such an enormous task. But Fiora put his mind at ease and he began his work. All around the parts of Elibe, there was word about the generosity of this one company that gave food, money, and supplies to those who were suffering throughout the land.

While Geitz's company gained some money from their work, mostly from grateful citizens who had scrounged up what they could, most of their funds were provided by the Merchant's Guild, which was now led by Geese. And as the time passed and Geitz and Fiora retired from their work, their business never floundered. With the continuing support of the Merchant's Guild, which was growing less corrupt as Geese initiated reforms, Geitz's dream continued to flourish.

Now with hundreds of small branches throughout the continent, from Ilia to the Western Isles, people can always rely of the help of Geitz's business, named 'We, the People'.

* * *

Chris: Hey, Geitz never got a story. And while he actually _is_ quite a boring character, I still think he's awesome. I'm like that. Eh, you know the drill. Review please, and tell me what you think. 


	9. Money or Love

Chris: Well, here's another romance one-shot for all of you people. Why? Because I felt like it. And because I haven't updated this in a while. Enjoy. Have fun.

**Jeanie: **It probably is. I make it a priority of mine to make unheard of pairings.

**Sam: **Yep, Geitz's father is a jerk. I hope he dies in FE 6.

**anonymous: **Glad you like it so much…Even if it is a late chapter.

**RLnaruhina: **Sure, why not? I'll check them out when I'm not being super lazy or something. And I'll write more Sain stories later. Cause he has too many fics in this archive anyway. And thanks for the compliments.

**Min the Noodle: **Yeah…Poor Geitz. Gets absolutely nothing. Like Ross. But Ross is a good character and Geitz isn't. Soooo sad. Well, glad you like it.

**drunkdragon: **Geitz is _not_ a pirate captain. Fargus is a pirate captain. I am not going to write a romance fic with Fargus in it unless I wanted to have fun. Geitz is around 23 probably. So, frankly, I don't think he's _that_ old.

**DGG-XAM1: **Glad you like it so much.

**BMKuro: **Thanks for the compliments and yes, Geese gets everything. And I'll write more Sain fics later. See reply to RLnaruhina for the answer.

**Inferno-Hero: **Yep, this is a first. Geitz so better get more stories now. Although he probably won't.

**Draknal: **Thanks for the compliments, and I'd try something out…But I'm not really good with the Black Fang characters and the only romance possible in SS would be someone x Selena. And the only person that could possibly be is Vigarde. Hmmm…Unless I did it before the guy died…

**Nightmare3: **Smart, smaaaaart. Piss off a muse. Oh yeah. Well, good luck escaping her. And I'm waiting for an update. Granted, people are waiting for updates on my stuff….

* * *

**Money or Love**

"Hey Kent! You want to join us in a poker game?" Farina waved at the orange-haired knight, holding a pack of cards in one hand. Sain and Lowen stood behind her, fiddling with their weapons and generally looking bored.

"I'm sorry, lady Farina, but I must go out on patrol. Maybe some other time." Kent said, his structured tone of voice grating on Farina's nerves.

"Aw, come on, Kent! It's just one patrol! Haven't you ever played hookey before?" Farina asked, frowning.

"Wrong question to ask, Farina." Sain mumbled out of the corner of his mouth, steadfastly ignoring Kent. "You never ask him to abandon his duty."

The brown-haired cavalier, being Kent's partner, knew what he was talking about and soon the truth of that was revealed. Kent spun on Farina, his eyes blazing. The cavalier slowly walked towards the navy-blue haired pegasus knight, glaring ferociously at her.

"Farina! How _dare_ you presume that I would leave my post for some silly game! I don't know how you pass the time as a mercenary, but I assure you, I would never let some ruffian sneak in our base because I was off playing cards!" Kent shouted. "I take my duty seriously and while you might think that's stupid of me, I will continue doing my duty until I am no longer needed!" He huffed and stomped his foot on the ground. "Good day!" Kent quickly spun on his heel and quickly left the dumbfounded pegasus knight.

"What's eating him?" Farina turned to look at Sain, who shrugged and munched on a cookie he found in Lowen's pack. "It's barely morning and he already leaves on patrol?"

Sain took a big bite and chewed on it thoughtfully before swallowing. "Well, Kent is a big stickler for rules. You break them and he will not be happy with you. Kent's a nice guy, but he hates it when someone implies that he doesn't respect his station or his duty." The cavalier yawned. "So what? We going to play?"

"Wait…Don't you have patrol too?" Farina pointed out.

"Oh yeah…I traded it off to Erk in exchange for alerting him when Serra comes around. It was a win-win solution. Less patrols for me and no more bloodcurdling screaming when Serra tackles Erk to the ground." Sain smacked his lips, wiping off any remaining cookie crumbs.

Farina looked at the direction Kent had departed, thinking furiously. "Would Kent mind trading off to someone?"

"Kent?" Sain's eyes widened slightly and he let out a short laugh. "Yeah right! Kent, trade patrol duty? I'm sorry, Farina, but even the discovery of a pirate's treasure wouldn't keep him away! He truly is dedicated to his job, unlike me." He yawned again. "Hey, Farina. If we aren't going to play, can I just go back to my bed and fall unconscious? I had guard duty last night and I'm really tired."

"Yeah, I can tell." Farina quirked an eye at the cavalier. "You haven't complemented me once. That's like a record." The blue-haired pegasus knight pocketed the cards in a small bag on her belt. "Sure, go ahead. Don't feel like playing now that Kent chewed me out."

"Thank you, o beautiful goddess." Sain yawned again before stumbling towards his tent, murmuring compliments to the empty air in front of him.

"Well, I'd better get breakfast ready." Lowen stretched, finally speaking up. "Lord Eliwood is looking forward to my eggs and sausage today. I think I finally found the correct amount of salt and pepper that needs to be added." Lowen bid Farina a farewell and left to stoke the campfire.

"Hmm…I wonder…" Farina said, before heading in the direction of where she had seen Kent head last, namely a small portion of forest that bordered the east side of camp.

_---_

"Hmm…" Kent paced around his little patrol area, holding his lance firmly in his hand and carefully making sure that no enemy moved past his sight. Suddenly, the cavalier heard a rustling behind him and he pointed his lance in the direction of the noise. "Halt!

"Whoa, whoa!" Farina burst in, holding her hands up. "Watch where you're pointing that thing!" She skidded to a stop before accidentally hurting herself on the lance.

"Oh, sorry, Farina." Kent lowered his lance. "I thought you were one of the enemy." The cavalier gave a small sigh. "Did you just come here to distract me?"

Farina was all set with a hotshot retort when she remembered the reason why she was here in the first place. "Hahaha…No. I actually came here to apologize for earlier. I didn't realize you took your job so seriously." She gave a sheepish grin. "So…I'm just here to say sorry. Although I make so much more money than you do."

Kent grinned slightly. "Thank you very much, Farina. I apologize as well for my earlier actions. They were unnecessary and I hope I didn't cause too much trouble."

"No, no!" Farina laughed. "Not at all. Well, I'll see you later. Don't forget to come for breakfast. Not even a loyal guardian like you can go without food." The pegasus raised a hand in farewell and walked back towards the main part of the camp.

"Yes, I will keep that in mind, Farina." Kent returned as he went back to his patrolling, his senses alert for the slightest presence that might denote the appearance of the enemy.

_---_

"So, tell me!" Farina said over breakfast. "How much money do you make?" She pointed a forked sausage at Kent. "A girl's got to know these things!"

Kent calmed lifted a small pile of eggs to his mouth and chewed. "Well, not that much, I assure you. Enough to keep me going, however, and enough for all my supplies. And hopefully, because of my post back in Caelin, I will build up a sizeable account that I can use to live a nice, modest life."

"That's all?" Farina gaped at the cavalier. "Just a modest life? What are you thinking, Kent? As for me, with all the money I'm getting, I'll be able to donate around three-fourths of it to the people of Ilia and with the rest I'll be able to continue my mercenary work! Now that's the life for me!"

Kent raised a critical eye at the blue-haired girl. "And when are you going to rest? When will you stop thinking of money and when will you start living life with someone that you love?"

"Hah!" Farina laughed derisively. "I'm a mercenary! There's no room for love in my world. Hmph…Maybe when I find someone worth it, I'll toss away the gold and the work, but not until then!" She stood up, coughing slightly. "All this talk of settling down is making me sick. I'm going to go my tent." Farina left, leaving her half-full plate of food on the table.

Kent looked at her, curious, before turning to Farina's sister, Fiora. The teal-haired pegasus knight raised a hand.

"I know what you're going to say. You're wondering how we're sisters, huh?" Fiora gave a knowing smile. "Well, I really wouldn't believe it myself if I were someone else. But even if we have completely different personalities, deep down, we're the same. It's just the circumstances."

"I see…" Kent nodded. "Very well. Thank you for the information, Fiora." He rose to leave, but stopped himself. "Er…Just one question, Fiora."

"What is it?"

"Why does she show such interest in monetary gain? And why did she seem so upset at the prospect of marriage?" Kent asked, thinking hard. "I cannot think of anything to explain such behavior."

Fiora rolled a small sausage with her fork. "Hmm…I believe I can answer your question, but I'm not sure if it is the truth. You know we come from Ilia, right? And that our land is covered with snow almost every day."

"Yes…Such a life is not one to be treasured."

"Well, since there is absolutely no way for the people to grow crops or feed themselves on the snowy climate, mercenaries like me go out, get hired, and return with almost all of the money we have made in order to keep people alive." Fiora grinned slightly. "It's an important job, kind of like your job to your lord. Farina takes her position very seriously. That is why she demands so much money for her skills."

"I see…" Kent closed his eyes. "Thank you very much for your help, Fiora. I believe I understand you and your sisters a lot better now." Still thinking, he left for his tent, wondering about Farina's predicament.

_---_

"…Tsk…" Farina looked at the pile of gold coins lying on her desk. "Still not enough…" She gave a small sigh and buried her face in her hands. "Still not enough, dammit! I need more! I'll never be able to support Ilia if I can't bring in more money…"

"S-Sister…?" Florina nervously peeked inside the tent flap. "A-Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Farina sniffed, wiping away a few tears that had appeared. "Oh, hey Florina!" She put on a happy smile for her sister. "What's up?"

"O-Oh nothing, F-Farina…" Florina smiled as well, although you could barely see it. "I…I just wanted to m-make sure you're okay…" She bowed slightly. "I…I'd better go. E-Erk wants me t-to help him p-practice his magic…" The orchid-haired girl slipped away, squeaking slightly.

Farina laughed slightly before turning back to the pile of gold in front of her. So far, she had amassed a savings of over thirty-thousand gold. Twenty-thousand of that had come from Hector and the other ten-thousand she had earned by doing odd jobs for people. Farina gave another sigh. She had promised herself that she would bring back at least fifty-thousand. What was she going to do now?

She laid her head on the wooden desk, looking forlornly at the stuffed sacks and the golden coins. It wasn't fair. Why couldn't she have been born in a different place, like Etruria or Lycia? Why did she have to keep fighting for others, for a cause that she wasn't even sure was just? It wasn't fair at all. The vision that Kent had painted about living modestly somewhere actually seemed appealing. At least, then, he would never have to keep fighting in order to survive…

"Hello? Farina? Are you in there?" Kent's kind voice filtered through the cloth flaps of her tent and she spun, her eyes wide. Quickly, she rubbed her eyes and shoved the gold behind a small piece of cloth.

'_Now was not the time I would have wanted to see him.'_ Farina thought angrily, making sure she didn't look like she had been crying. "Yeah, I'm here, Kent!"

"Can I come in?"

"Sure, why not?" Farina said carelessly.

The red-armored cavalier stepped inside the tent consciously, his gaze roving across the various chests and decorations she had in her tent.

"What do you want?" Farina demanded, folding her arms. "I'm really tired and I'm not feeling well, okay? I'd really like it if you would just leave."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Kent bowed slightly. "If that's the case, then don't let me detain you anymore." He bowed again before turning to leave. "Oh…Before I leave…this is for you." Kent dropped a small sack on her bed before leaving. "Farewell."

Farina eyed the bag skeptically, slowly rising to retrieve it. It was a nondescript bag, made out of plain leather and tied with a loose string. Farina untied the knot and gasped when she saw what was inside. Sparkling at her was a small pile of gold coins and on top of that was a stack of silver jewelry, sparkling with a multitude of precious stones. Farina drew out a small, golden ring which proudly displayed a gorgeous sapphire on top.

She rushed outside of her tent, trying to catch a glimpse of the orange-haired cavalier. When she couldn't spot him, Farina withdrew to her tent, rotating the ring in her hand and looking at the rest of the jewelry and coins. There must be around thirty-thousand gold worth of valuable pieces there. And Kent had just given it her…

­_---_

The next day, Farina resolved to return the money and jewelry to Kent the first moment she saw him. But, for some strange reason, he wasn't at the normal spots. When she left early to catch him at his patrol, she spotted Heath there instead.

"Hey, doesn't Kent normally take this place?" Farina asked the wyvern knight, who nodded.

"Yeah, but today he said he wasn't feeling well, so he traded it off to me. I needed some exercise with Hyperion anyway." Heath shouted from his position in the sky before going into a dive and barrel roll on his wyvern.

"I see…" Farina said sadly. "Thanks anyway!"

"No problem!" Heath waved. "Hope you see him!"

Farina left the wyvern knight and continued on her search, but still to no avail. He wasn't at the camp mess hall, he wasn't in the stables, he wasn't at his tent, and he wasn't at the war room. Farina was starting to get worried. Nobody had seen him every since yesterday, and even Matthew, the thief who knew practically everything, didn't know where he was.

'_Hmph…Well, he did give it to me…I'm sure he didn't want me to worry. He probably just left to go train or something.'_ Farina thought to herself, but she quickly dismissed such foolish notions. She continued on her search and finally found him in a secluded patch of land in the forest nearby. The cavalier was busy sharpening the iron-tipped points of his lances and polishing his armor while sitting on a fallen log.

"Hey Kent." Farina whispered, not wanting to scare him.

"Oh, hello Farina." Kent said, not turning. "What brings you here?"

"What brings _me_ here?" Farina shouted. "What the hell are _you_ doing here? Why aren't you at camp?"

"I just decided to take in the fresh air." Kent returned. He stabbed one of his finished weapons into the ground, point first. "So, what brings you here?"

"Um…I came…I came to return this!" Farina brought out the sack that Kent had given her and tossed it at his feet. The cavalier looked at it in mild surprise.

"I thought you needed money. I was just doing what I thought was right. The people of Ilia will need this more than I ever would. At least I would have a way to survive. They don't." Kent muttered. "Listen, take it. I don't need it anyway. Just some mementos of my parents, that's all."

"Just some mementos?" Farina's eyes were practically bugging out. "These things are worth a fortune! And you just give them to me? That should stay in your family! I…I can't sell them just because people are suffering."

"It was my choice to give them to you." Kent replied, standing up. "I don't need them and my parents don't need them. I…I know you need the money. Just take them and don't think about it, okay?" He gave a small sigh and picked up his weapons. "Well, time to head back. I need to help Sain clean out the stables."

"Kent, wait!" Farina said commandingly. "Listen, I can't _stop_ thinking about it, okay? Why should someone care about our plight so much? Answer me!"

Kent shrugged. "Look…Farina. I asked your sister why you were so obsessed with money. And she told me all about Ilia. I…I really can't sleep well knowing that I could be doing something to help them." He sighed again and brushed back some of his hair. "I guess you could call that my contribution for now."

Farina stared at Kent fiercely, trying to find some sort of lie, some sort of admission of a selfish reason. But scanning his face, she could find none. Kent truly wanted to help her people and was willing to give away some of his most precious things to help. It was…a nice feeling, actually, to know that someone cared for your country as much as you did.

"So, Farina, are you coming with me?" Kent grabbed his lance out of the dirt.

"Oh…No. I've got to think about some things…" Farina mumbled.

"Okay. See you at camp." Kent nodded before leaving.

Farina sat down on the log that Kent had vacated, thinking about what he had said. Sighing, she ran a hand through her deep blue hair and looked down. The bag of jewelry and money was still there on the ground.

_---_

'…' Farina walked back to the camp in a sort of a gloom, still torn between Kent's good intentions and what people usually say when they hear about Ilia. People always say sorry and that they hope the situation would improve…But only Kent has tried to do something about it. It…it made her feel good inside…That someone cared. She quickly cleared her head. _'No…I don't have any feelings for him. He can't see the road to getting good money. He doesn't know how to live or how to prepare for the future. He just wants to stay in the background…just…doing what he likes…'_

Farina looked up from her reverie to find out that she was standing outside of Kent's tent. _'How did that happen?'_ Shrugging, she peeked into his tent, and seeing that he was inside, entered.

"Hello again, Farina. We seem to be seeing each other a lot." Kent smiled slightly. "Is there anything you need?"

"Listen…Kent. I really appreciate that you…that you want to help the Ilians." Farina said, looking down at the ground and flushing slightly. _'What the hell are you doing? You're acting like Florina!'_ Her inner self screamed at her, but Farina blocked it off. "But I still can't accept. It…It just doesn't feel right, okay?" Farina walked forward and dumped the sack on his table.

"Farina…How many times do I have to go over this?" Kent started, but looked at her eyes, which were beginning to tear up again. Kent suppressed a sigh and went quiet. "Very well. I was just trying to help…"

"I…I know, Kent. And I really appreciate it. Truly." Farina blinked and was astounded to find tears in her eyes. She rubbed the tears away, sniffing slightly. "Now…I...Kent, no one has ever tried to help me. It's kind of overwhelming."

Kent smiled. "I don't understand why not. Your people are suffering. It is my duty to help them get over it." He quickly caught the sobbing pegasus knight when she suddenly toppled onto his chest.

"Oh…Oh Kent…" Farina smiled slightly. "Oooh…Now I feel like Florina…" She sniffed, feeling more tears course down her cheeks. "This isn't fair…Oh Kent...I…I don't know if I can be content knowing that a person such as you will only have a small low-paying job…"

Kent chuckled. "Leave it to you to bring money in a time like this." He patted her back softly, running his hand up and down her back. "Farina…Perhaps you might be right…Maybe, after the war…I could resign and live my life as a mercenary."

"No, no!" Farina looked at his face, her eyes tearstained. "Don't do that! The life of a mercenary isn't one for you…You never know when you'll get your next meal…People don't treat you with any respect…"

"I see…" Kent looked at Farina solemnly. "Then why are you a mercenary?"

"Because!" She tried to smile, but failed. "The mercenary's life fits me…I have to do it. Kent…I…I don't know if this truly is the feeling…But you make me feel good, knowing that there are people who like to help us Ilians. I think I'm in love with you…" Farina chuckled sadly. "Listen to me…The great Farina of the Stormwings…Saying that she's in love and acting like her little sister."

Kent grinned and ran a hand through her hair. "I think this feeling fits you well." He lifted Farina off of his chest. "Now…Farina, I was thinking…I might not be a mercenary now, but later…Maybe I'll be a mercenary with you."

"Kent…You don't mean…" Farina looked at the cavalier, who nodded.

"I'm just doing what my heart feels is right. And what is right is staying with you forever, even if it means that I won't have a stable life. You, Farina, are worth it." Kent pushed the bag at Farina. "Now, don't say no this time. Take it, with my compliments. Think of it…as a dowry, however old-fashioned that might feel. And even though that term is not really applicable to our situation."

"Oh…Kent…" Farina sniffed and pecked Kent quickly on the cheek. "I…I better go before I have a complete breakdown. I…I don't want to collapse and start bawling my eyes out, you know?"

"I know." Kent nodded in understanding.

"B-But…" Farina drew out the small gold ring with the sapphire. "I want you to keep this…You're going to need it."

"Hmm?" Kent looked at the piece of jewelry.

"…I'd love to…to wear it at our wedding." Farina kissed Kent again and left the tent, holding her little bag, which represented the dreams, the hopes, and the lives of the Ilian country.

* * *

Chris: Well, I hope you enjoyed it! And if not…Oh well. Sucks for you. Review please! Oh, and the next chapter of Life's Quest will be up soon. 


	10. Training

Chris: Well, I've finally come out with another romance one-shot for this archive! So you all sit back in your computer chairs and enjoy!

Disclaimer: Don't own Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. If I did, I would have added in a Support Conversations option to benefit writers worldwide. So, you know, they could actually get reference from their game about the supports. Which is totally vital.

* * *

**Training**

"Hssss…" Lethe's bright purple eyes narrowed as she looked at the person in front of her. "What do you want?"

"And greetings to you as well, Lethe." Ike said wryly. "I just came to make sure you're all set for a journey to Daein. I know they aren't that fond of laguz over there and I was hoping that it wouldn't bother you."

Lethe continued to glare at the blue-haired person in front of her. "You insult me. I said I would stick with you and I never go back on my word. Unless you imply that I am…"

"No, no! Of course not!" Ike shook his head. "I'm sorry if you got that impression, but that wasn't what I meant at all. It is a leader's moral duty to make sure all of his soldiers are ready for the march ahead." He gave a little shrug. "Well, just as long as you're all right, I guess I have no other reason for being here."

"No, you do not." Lethe snapped.

"…" Ike shook his head dismally, turning to leave. "Oh…Right. Before I go, did you think about what I asked?"

"I did. And I think it's a stupid idea. You and your weak beorc muscles would not be able to handle a full-blown training session by me." Lethe folded her arms, her orange-furred ears twitching with impatience and annoyance. "Don't think about it."

"Still, it would be nice to try it out. After all, I need to learn all the fighting styles I can to make sure that we survive. If you don't want to, however…I completely understand. I'll just have to ask Mordecai." Ike shrugged and left, closing the door.

Lethe frowned, thinking hard. Now her tail had joined in the fun and was swishing behind her as she struggled to bring her emotions under control. Muttering a few choice curses she learned in Gallia, she opened the door and looked out at the hallway. "Ike! Wait!"

"Hmmm? What is it?" Ike spun on his heel, looking confused. "Change your mind?"

"…Grr…Yes." Lethe said, restraining the urge to grind her teeth. No matter what anyone said, she would never get used to serving in a beorc army with a beorc at the head. Never. "Be at the castle training grounds in the morning! And don't keep me waiting. I don't like waiting." She glowered at him before stomping back into her room, her tail thrashing madly. That was one thing that wasn't good about being a laguz. It was the fact that her tail kept betraying her emotions. Clamping back down on those pesky emotions again, Lethe looked around the room and sighed. She just hoped she wouldn't get blamed for mauling the army leader.

_---_

"So, what do I do?" Ike placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, looking at Lethe.

"Hmph…First you toss away that thing you beorcs use." Lethe folded her arms again, frowning. "Sheesh…so weak that you resort to using unnatural things to fight."

Ike didn't bother replying as he unhooked his sword belt and dropped it to the side. "Okay? Now what?"

"Now we fight! Show me if you're more than just meat and bones! Since this is just your first time, I won't transform."

"Gee, thanks." Ike said dryly as he brought his arms up in an unorthodox fighting position. "It really makes me feel wanted."

"…" Lethe wasted no time on words. She jumped on Ike, knocking him down to the grass as she swung a fist at his stomach. Ike blocked her blow with one of his hands and used his legs to toss her over his head. With a quick roll, Ike got back up to his feet, looking back at Lethe, who bit off a remark of surprise.

This time, Ike attacked. Dancing forward, he did a quick jab with his left that Lethe dodged. Next, he did a strong right hook aimed at Lethe's side that she blocked with her arm. The blue-haired man now proceeded to move low to try to trip her, only to find out that he had forgotten something. Beast laguz had tails. Tails that were strong enough to grip him by the foot and throw him away. Which is exactly what Lethe proceeded to do, dumping Ike unceremoniously in a heap on the grass.

"Ouch…" Ike winced as he saw blood well out of a wound in his knee. Staggering upright, he brought his hands up into a fighting position again, trying to keep his weight off of his wounded leg.

"What are you doing?" Lethe frowned again, her tail and ears twitching with agitation.

"I thought we were going to continue training."

"You're wounded. You can't fight like that." Lethe spat.

"We'll see about that." Ike said confidently as he moved in closer. Lethe stifled an irritated sigh and prepared herself for another one of Ike's attacks. Ike started out the same way, throwing another jab with his left hand that she once again dodged. However, instead of swinging with his right, he brought up his wounded leg to send crashing into her side, knocking her over and causing him to bite off a curse of pain. Lethe rolled up on all fours, hissing as she stalked Ike, walking around him and spotting his weak points.

However, Ike didn't want to give her the chance of using whatever knowledge she might have gleaned. Moving forward again, he tackled her to the ground and was about to land a punch in her stomach when Lethe shoved him off of her and reversed their positions, with Lethe poised to beat Ike senseless if she wanted to. And at this point, with all the battle energies flowing through her, she _did_ want to beat him senseless. Except something interrupted her.

"Ike! Ike!" Mist called out for her brother as she ran out into the courtyard. Chancing a look, she spotted Lethe on top of her brother, about to pummel him. "Ike!" She rushed to his side, although she couldn't resist sending a verbal jab his way. "Losing to someone else in training this time?"

"Urgh…Yeah…Um…Lethe…Can you please get off?"

"Huh?" Lethe looked down at Ike and quickly moved off, flushing slightly. "Sorry."

"It's okay…whew…" Ike sighed in relief as healing energies from Mist's heal staff flowed into the wound in his leg. "That was rough." He let himself collapse on the cool grass, smiling faintly as he stared at the clouds.

"Hmph…Maybe you did better than I expected." Lethe grimaced, her eyes showing nothing but hatred and loathing. "But we'll see about next time. I expect to see you out here tomorrow at the same time." She stalked off, her tail swishing majestically behind her.

"What's wrong with her?" Mist asked curiously.

"Oh, probably just some of that reverse prejudice." Ike said with a small sigh. "I had hoped that since she was with us for a long time, she might have overcome such thoughts, but I guess not." He scratched his head.

"Don't worry, Ike! I'm sure that you'll be the one to help her open up!" Mist said cheerfully, patting her brother. "And if not, you can always let her beat you up at practice!"

"Thanks Mist. Thanks." Ike said, smiling.

_---_

Unfortunately, unexpected events came across the way of Ike's second training session. Actually, it wasn't unexpected at all, because the attack on Daein had been planned for months. It was only bad luck that the order to move would occur right when they were going to start.

"Groan…I was looking forward to it too…" Ike mumbled to himself as he sat on his horse, overlooking the movements of his army. "Training is much better than doing this stuff…Sheesh…"

"Hmph…Some leader…" Lethe said scathingly as she passed by Ike. "Not only weak in the body, but also weak in the mind as well. Just like all beorcs."

Ike frowned as he watched her go ahead of him. Shaking his head angrily, Ike ran up to the cat laguz and grabbed her by the arm. Lethe spun, hissing and showing her pointed teeth. "Listen Lethe. It's all right if you don't like me but it is _not_ all right when you disparage everyone who is a beorc."

"…" Lethe looked at Ike dispassionately before sliding out of his grip and continuing to walk.

"Lethe, wait!" Ike yelled, catching up to the orange-haired laguz again. "I have no idea what's come over you. Earlier you were never this rude. What happened?"

"It's none of your business, Ike." Lethe walked off angrily, her tail swishing behind her. Ike watched her go and scratched the back of his head. Shrugging, he turned to head back to his rightful place behind the line. Sure, he might not know what the hell was bothering her, but at least she had called him by name.

_---_

It was only later, after he had asked Mordecai about Lethe's strange behavior that he finally figured out what was bothering her. So, like any good leader, he decided to confront the problem head on. Also, like any good leader, he somehow managed to completely botch the situation.

"GET OUT!"

Ike crashed into a wall as the door in front of him was slammed shut. He shook his head wearily, checking to make sure he wasn't wounded or bleeding. Luckily, for the moment, Lethe appeared to have let him get off early, with only a couple of bruises to fully showcase her rage. _'I should not have done that…' _

The blue-haired mercenary stood, shaking his head again. Staggering off, he winced as pain started to flare up his leg. "Whew…Almost like a training session…"

Lethe waited by her door to make sure that Ike left the vicinity. When she was absolutely certain that he was gone, she slowly creaked open the door, looking warily around her. "Hmph…Stupid beorc. He had no idea what he was talking about." She crept out of the inn they were staying in and found some shelter behind a couple of trees. Closing her eyes, she basked in the calm and tranquil scene. What had been bothering her earlier was the fact that some of the members of the army had been making lewd passes to her and that wasn't something she wanted. The fact that it bothered her only got her even more pissed off, resulting in her less than respectable behavior around Ike.

"Hey, I've been seeing you around. Hehehehe…How's about I treat you to a nice, cozy dinner for two? And then I can show you a couple of my treasures later." A greasy, slovenly man who somehow managed to make it into the Crimean army walked up to her, grinning lustfully.

Lethe peeked open an eye. "Go away before I rip my claws through your throat."

"Aw, come on girl. Give me a chance. Let me show you that not all people in Crimea hate laguz. In fact, I love laguz."

"I said _go away_." Lethe opened her other eye and glared at the man in front of her.

"Fine! Be a bitch! I'm sure there are millions of other sub-humans who would just love to have me with them!" The man stomped off, leaving Lethe alone once again.

The orange-haired catgirl let out a deep breath to try to release the tension that was built up inside of her. When she failed, Lethe grumbled and pushed herself up. There was only one way to get rid of all of her stress and anger. And that was to completely pummel Ike during their training session. She cracked a couple of her knuckles and stalked towards the command tent. Lethe felt like showing Ike why she had such contempt for the beorc race.

_---_

"IKE!"

The lord in question winced inwardly and steeled himself for the assault that he was certain was coming. As such, he was completely unsurprised when Lethe burst into his tent. "So…Can I help you?"

"It's time for training! Get out on the field and show me what you've got!" Lethe yelled before leaving and stalking outside. Ike looked on, slightly amused, before turning to his tactician.

"I think she wants to kill me." Ike remarked to his black-haired friend, Soren.

"She isn't the only one. I'm certain there are some Daeins that want to kill you too." Soren replied as he looked over the figures on his sheets. "You might as well go. In her mood, she isn't going to bother waiting. And it's not like you ever listen to me whenever I talk about supplies." Even as he finished his sentence, he saw Ike's eyes glazing over. "I'm not going to talk about them anymore, Ike."

"Oh, sorry about that, Soren." Ike gave a helpless shrug. "You know how I feel about all the technical stuff." He gave a small sigh and opened the tent flap. "Tell everyone that I died in the head of battle. It won't be _that _far off from the truth."

_---_

"Took you long enough!" Lethe grumbled as she paced in a line, her hands clasped behind her back. Ike watched her, frowning when he saw how much her tail and ears were twitching.

"Lethe? Did that guy come back?" Ike asked, concerned. "I could tell him to lay off. You aren't doing yourself a favor by letting all of this stew inside of you." The blue-haired mercenary stepped forward.

"I thought I said it was none of your business!" Lethe cried as she spun to face him, her twin bells jingling as they flew around her body. "You beorcs are all the same! You never know when to leave well enough alone!" She screamed in rage and dropped on all fours, quickly transforming into her laguz form. Yowling, she jumped and aimed a swipe at Ike's throat. The mercenary, already caught off guard, just barely managed to dodge in time, falling to the ground.

"Lethe! What the hell are you doing!" Ike yelled as he dodged another one of her attacks, reluctant to draw his sword or some other weapon. But no matter what he said, it appeared that the orange-furred laguz was way past talking. _'I guess the only thing I can do is fight. Yeah, that's smart. Fight against a beast with claws and fangs that are quite able to rip you to shreds.'_

Ike sidestepped another one of Lethe's charges and then quickly followed with a drop kick on top of Lethe's back. Not wanting to lose the slim advantage he had gained, he gripped her body with his two legs and fell to the ground, tossing her over his head. Lethe somersaulted in the air and jumped on Ike, scratching at his eyes. Ike moved his head away and struggled to get out from under her body, but it didn't seem possible. In her laguz form, she weighed much more than he did and he doubted that she would ever let him get away.

"Lethe! Get off of me!" Ike yelled angrily, starting to get fed up with her actions. "Now!" Using all of his might, he shoved Lethe off of him and punched her in the stomach with his sword hand. He pushed himself up, panting heavily as he watched Lethe get up as well. She jumped at him one last time, transforming into her human form as all of her anger faded away. Even still, she continued to weakly flail at his body, yelling curses at him.

"You are all the same! All the same…" Lethe cried as she continued to punch Ike in the chest.

"Whoa! Lethe! Control yourself!" Ike restrained the orange-haired girl, pinning her arms to her sides. "Listen, I don't know where you got the idea that I'm the same as that creep that's been bothering you, but I'm not, okay?" He slowly sat up, letting Lethe cling to him. "Please, calm down."

Lethe shook her head, angrily wiping away her tears. "I don't need a beorc's pity!"

Ike gave a little sigh and scratched at his hair. "Lethe? Why do you have to be so tough? Why can't you just be…I don't know…happy and relaxed once in a while. You're always so tense. Kind of like Shinon, now that I think about it."

"…This conversation is worthless! I'm not going to bother even answering that question!" Lethe said, folding her arms. "I'm…I'm going back to my room!" She quickly got on her feet, but weariness claimed her and she wobbled slightly before falling into Ike's arms. "What are you doing!"

"I thought I told you. I care about all of my friends. I can't let you just fall down and give yourself a concussion." Ike replied.

Lethe stared at him for a moment before looking away, her ears twitching. "Hmph…"

"Listen, I won't tolerate anyone harassing my soldiers and especially not people I care about. Trust me. You won't be bothered by anybody like that again. I can do that. I'm the leader of this army."

"Hmph…Like I said…Some leader…No true leader would spend his time like this."

"Hmmm…" Ike wondered. "I see…And do you want me to be a true leader?" He looked down at Lethe, a small smile at his lips.

"…No…" Lethe replied, closing her eyes. "Not at all…"

"Glad to hear it." Ike said, slowing running his fingers through Lethe's short hair. "Hey, we're still doing the training, right?"

One of Lethe's eyes opened. "You still want to continue?"

"Of course. If a true leader doesn't spend his time training, then that means I _should_ continue training so I'll never be a true leader." Ike flashed a smile at her.

"Hmph…Some logic…" Lethe smiled a little in return. _'Some logic indeed…'_

* * *

Chris: Ahem…Well, I hope you liked it. First PoR romance story for me…With Ike/Lethe, my favorite pairing for reasons unknown at the moment. I just like it. Yep. Review please!

PS: To all those writers who need to update. Update please. Thank you. Now it's time for me to update something else.  



	11. One Step at a Time

Hi, I did something. I'm not so sure if it's good or anything and I think I might have made Mia and Ilyana a little OOC. Honestly, I'd have to give Hitokun props for indirectly inspiring me to write this story. I was reading one of her fics while at work (yes, I know that's bad) and my thought was "Man where the hell did Mia x Micaiah pop up. Mia x Ilyana in the one true pairing." So I decided to write this. Yeah, makes no sense but hey, it got me to write something so it can't be all that bad.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little Mia x Ilyana fic.

* * *

**One Step at a Time**

'_Concentrate Mia. Pretend the target in front of you is the enemy and cut him in two.'_ The young swordswoman thought to herself as she faced the target, her sword glinting in the sunlight. With one flash she had cut the target in two, both halves scattered to the ground. With a smile, she straightened and examined her handiwork. _'A nice clean cut. Perfect!'_

She turned her attention to the next target, this one covered in the heavy armor one would find on a knight. There were numerous dents and cuts across the plate and Mia looked at it in disgust, twisting her sword in her hands. She might have been one of the best sword users in the whole army, but she still couldn't cut through armor without a little help. Her fighting style, developed using light blades, always was too weak to cleave through a knight's powerful armor in one stroke. She could use those thick, heavy blades that were designed for piercing through armor, but those swords were unwieldy and she really, really hated them.

"Still practicing, Mia?" A familiar voice came from behind her and Mia turned to give her partner a smile. Ilyana, stood several feet away, a semi-bored look in her eyes as she absentmindedly chewed on a cookie from a bag of snacks. The violet-haired mage looked at the series of targets that had already been cut, some of which had been marked with the likenesses of several people. Ashnard's head lay on the ground right next to what appeared to be the top half of Shinon's body. A small smile appeared on her lips and she looked back at Mia, finishing her cookie. "I hope Shinon doesn't mind."

"Bah, who cares what that jerk thinks." Mia waved her concerns away, scoffing. "Besides, he's off prancing with Elincia and her army. So it's not like he's going to see me cut him in two."

"I guess." Ilyana shrugged. It was true, after all. After that horrendous display of power by the goddess Ashera, the army had split into three different groups. She and Mia were traveling with Ike's army at the moment and they were taking a break after a brief skirmish against some of Ashera's fanatical supporters. "Hungry? Oscar is almost finished with the food."

"Is food all you think about?" Mia said with a crooked smile, her free hand on her hip.

Ilyana seemed downcast for a moment before shaking her head. "No, I think about other things."

"Good. I'd be worried if it really was all you thought about." She laughed and walked up to Ilyana, patting her on the shoulder. "So what brings you out here?"

"I just felt like talking." Ilyana replied in a flat tone as she crumpled up her bag and tossed it to the side. Mia blinked at her partner a couple of times, confused a little. They had worked together in the first war against Ashnard and now they were working together in the war against the goddess herself, but there still were times where Ilyana just acted…_weird_. This apparently was one of those times.

"So…uh, what do you wanna talk about?" Mia scratched her head, blinking her sea-green eyes. "You…you aren't going to try to eat me again, are you? Cause that was just weird."

Ilyana blushed, remembering that time when she had gotten so hungry she had thought of Mia as a hunk of meat that was waiting to be barbequed. A tall, slim, beautiful hunk of meat, but still delicious, delicious meat. She shook her head rapidly. Now was not the time to be thinking about things like that. "No, of course not. I told you that last time was a mistake and I already said sorry."

"Haha, I know, I know." Mia smirked and patted Ilyana on the head, playing with the young girl's two braids. She began leading the smaller girl to the mess area, steering her away from the wooden corpses of so many fallen soldiers. "So, did you really want to talk about something or just tell me that food's almost ready?"

Ilyana paused in her tracks, throwing Mia off. She nodded slightly, her voice a little nervous. "Yeah…I did."

"Well? Spill it. You can tell me anything." Mia said with a grin.

"Okay…Mia? I love you." Ilyana said as she stared into Mia's eyes, her face set in a resolute expression. "I don't know when it happened, but lately I've been finding myself thinking about you more and more often. So today I decided to tell you how I felt."

Mia's sword dropped to the ground, landing with a small thud.

"Ha…ha…Is this a joke? Are you playing a trick on me?" Mia laughed lamely, looking back at Ilyana to see if this really was a joke. The look on her face, however, showed that she was as serious as she could possibly be. Mia stepped back, shaking her head and looking upset. "S-Sorry…that was kind of out of the blue. I'm really not sure how to think…I mean, you're my friend! Of course! B-But still…I mean…well, you know."

"I really don't…" was Ilyana's only reply.

Mia laughed again, once again without feeling. She backed away some more, unable to really think of anything to say besides a quick sorry. She then turned and ran away, her heart pounding in her chest and her thoughts all in a whirl. _'Ilyana loves me? She's serious…she's seriously in love with me. I…I don't know what to do. What am I supposed to do? I don't think about this stuff. I don't even remember the last time I thought of someone romantically…and now, and now! I need a drink!'_

She kept running in a blind panic into the camp, ignoring other peoples' questions as she tried to remember where the hell those damn merchants kept their wagon. One of them had converted theirs to a miniature bar. She was so intent on her search that she wasn't watching where she was going and slammed right into someone else.

"Whoa, Mia, what's the rush?!" The sultry voice of the group's resident thief entered Mia's ears and the purple-haired girl gave a sigh of relief.

"Phew, Heather…where'd the merchants put the booze? I need a drink, right now." Mia said, breathless as she picked herself up.

"Didn't Ike get rid of all the drinks cause he didn't want us to party too much? Especially since we're being hunted by some of the weirdest, creepiest enemies ever?" Heather replied with an arched eye, looking at Mia with some amusement. "Don't tell me you forgot."

"Son of a bitch!"

"Do you really need it that badly?" Heather asked, her eyes darting around to see if anyone else was in the vicinity. When she confirmed that they were alone, she leaned in and whispered in Mia's ear, "I grabbed a couple before he could get rid of it all. I guess I could share a bottle or two with you."

Mia shivered at the close contact but nodded rapidly. "Yeah, sure. Just lead the way."

"Right away, my dear." Heather said, a slightly mocking tone in her voice as she executed a perfect bow. "It will be my pleasure."

_---_

Several minutes later, Mia was in Heather's tent nursing a small glass of ale. The thief's tent was remarkably sparse for who she was, but there was a sack lying in a corner that Mia was almost certain contained valuables that Heather had snatched from…somewhere. Besides that, there was only a chest for clothes, a small table and chair, a single lamp, and a cot. She definitely was lucky to have a whole tent to herself, although no one doubted that Heather wouldn't mind sharing with a certain halberdier.

"So why the need to drink? You didn't seem like an alcoholic to me." Heather asked as she lifted her own glass to her lips. "Something happen?"

"You could say that…" Mia mumbled, still feeling upset about the whole mess. "Hey Heather…uh, you like girls right? What made you like them more than, you know, guys?"

"That came out of nowhere." Heather said, looking at Mia carefully. "Why ask now? Is there someone you're looking to be with? Like Micaiah?"

"What? Of course not." Mia snorted. "Besides, I'm sure she loves Sothe. Or…something. Anyways that's not the point. It isn't me, it's someone else."

"Someone confess to you, then? Who?" Heather grinned like a fox, her blue eyes glinting mischievously.

"You can't tell anyone." Mia warned. "If I find out you did, I'll…well, I can't kill you, but I promise I'll do something bad."

"Please, why would I do something like that?" Heather raised her hands in protest. "Just because I don't hide who I want doesn't mean I'm going to blab about everyone else's love interests. So come on, tell me. Who is it?"

Mia sighed and rubbed her forehead, wondering if she really could trust the sneaky woman. "Fine. It was Ilyana."

Heather's eyes widened slightly and a big smile appeared on her face. "Is that so…This is news. Big news. I'm surprised though. I never would have expected her to do something like this. I hope you didn't just leave her standing there without an answer. …Oh wait, of course you did. If you didn't, you wouldn't be here."

Mia glared at Heather briefly before taking another drink. "Yeah, so what? I didn't know what to do! It's not like I receive love confessions every day of the week, much less from my own gender. I…I said I was sorry and that I needed to think about it. And then I ran away."

"So what's the problem? You've had enough time to think about it now, right?" Heather grinned. "Nah, I kid. What's your problem with it? Just the fact that it was sudden or is it because Ilyana's a girl? Would you have reacted the same if, let's say, Rhys confessed his love to you?"

"It's really more the surprise thing. Although I guess I might have been more receptive if Rhys had been the one asking." Mia replied, looking a little uneasy. "I mean, I'm all fine with girls liking girls, but it still makes me a little…weirded out. No offense, of course."

"None taken. Tell me, _can_ you see yourself being with Ilyana? Not just in the battlefield, but everywhere? I assume one day you're going to settle down and stop being a hired sword." Heather stated, looking over her glass. "Can you see yourself living with her? Maybe even adopting a child and raising it?"

"Well…I already kind of live with her. We share tents." Mia said plainly. "I don't know about the raising a kid thing. I think I'd be bad with kids."

"That's really not the point, but okay." Heather shrugs, pulling out another small bottle. "Anyway, I don't know what to tell you. Take a couple of days to think about it. Think about what it would be like living with Ilyana, not just here on the road, but for the rest of your life. There's really nothing saying this relationship has to last forever, but I think you two make a nice couple so you might as well carry it as far as you think it can go. But most importantly, don't rush this. You're not doing anyone favors by deciding an answer on a whim."

"…Thanks Heather. I guess I _will_ do that." Mia drained the rest of her glass and stood. "Thanks for listening to me."

"No problem. Good luck and I hope you make Ilyana happy." She smirked before tossing Mia another spare bottle of booze. "Take this. Just make sure no one else finds out and if someone catches you, I didn't give it to you."

Mia caught it with surprise before smiling. "Yeah, got it. Thanks a lot, Heather. Good luck with Nephenee."

"I'll make my own." Heather smirked as she waved farewell.

_---_

The next couple of days passed well, albeit awkwardly. Ilyana had said nothing when Mia returned to their tent. She only flipped a page in her spellbook, ignoring Mia's presence. It was only slightly better on the battlefield. While they still worked as an unbeatable team, communication between the two was bad, to say the least. Whereas before they would often exchange jokes and keep their morale up, now it was just a silent trek. Any attempts to break the silence failed and eventually Mia just gave up.

She did, however, spend lots of time thinking about what Ilyana and Heather had said to her. Most of that time was spent in frustration, trying not to tear her hair out as she looked at both of the inevitable outcomes. If she said no, then that was it. They probably could still work together, but things between them would be even worse. And if she thought _now_ was bad, she could only imagine what it would be like then. Ilyana would probably request a transfer or something and she would get partnered with someone else. If she said yes…she really couldn't imagine what would happen after that. She guessed that Ilyana would be more lovey-dovey around her or something and maybe they'd talk about other things than the camp gossip and small random facts.

What's even worse is that all this hesitation, worrying, and frustration completely conflicted with how she usually dealt with things. She considered life a battle and like all battles, she went through it fast and quick, acting through instinct. She didn't worry about deep plans and strategies and just went with her gut. Except right now her gut was apparently taking a rain check. She had to make a choice though.

Finally, though, she figured out what she could say. It wouldn't be anything like the stories that the minstrels sang about true love, but she hoped it would be enough to convey her feelings to Ilyana. She found the mage sitting on a cot inside their tent, reading a thin, hardcover book. Mia sat down opposite her, giving her friend a nervous smile before sighing and mussing her hair.

"Ilyana, we need to talk."

"Okay." She lowered her book and closed it, placing it next to her. A quick glance told Mia that it was the mage's diary. She gulped before taking a deep breath, composing herself and reciting her words in her mind.

"Ilyana, I have to say sorry again for how I reacted. While your confession was…extremely surprising, I shouldn't have run like that." Mia apologized. "You really threw me for a loop! I mean, you were the first person to ever say they loved me. Besides my parents, but then they don't count…being my parents and all."

Ilyana smiled, but didn't say anything else. Mia took this as a good sign and the silence helped her think. "So I took the past couple of days to really think about what you had said and I finally came to a decision."

"Which was?" Ilyana prompted, a slightly impatient look on her face.

"Don't rush me!" Mia protested, a playful tone in her voice. "Anyway, I thought about it for a while and decided…why the hell not?"

Ilyana looked at Mia strangely, uncertain of what to feel. "I…That was not the answer I was really hoping for."

"Yeah, that kind of came out wrong." Mia grinned. "No, really…It's not love at the moment. I can't just decide it on four freaking days. But I can see it. I can actually see us being together so…why not give it a shot? You're one of…no, you are my best friend. If you think it could become something more, then I'm more than willing to see if it can."

A wide smile formed on Ilyana's face as she took one of Mia's hands in her own. "Thanks…it really means a lot hearing that from you. I'm glad…very glad."

"I just hope you know what you're heading into here." Mia replied, her eyes glinting with mischief. She tugged hard on Ilyana's arms and deposited the surprised mage onto her lap and began holding her. "I can be a very impulsive person, you know?"

"A-Ah well…I figured that…" Ilyana stammered, a little caught off guard by how odd Mia was acting. She let herself lean against the swordmaster, though, breathing a sigh of contentment.

"Did you figure it out enough?" Mia said as she kissed Ilyana on the side of her neck. She felt a shiver run down her girlfriend's spine and grinned. "Wow, I'm not even good at this kissing thing."

"S-Shut up! It was sudden, that's all!" Ilyana shouted back, her face burning red. It flared even more when her stomach rumbled and she clasped her hands at her stomach, looking down in embarrassment.

Mia just laughed and hugged her. "I hope that doesn't happen all the time. It could get very awkward in the future. You know. During fancy dinners…balls…the bedroom. You know."

Ilyana's face grew even more red and Mia continued laughing, shaking her a little. "Calm down, calm down! We can worry about this later. Right now, we should go eat. It wouldn't do for your stomach to continue grumbling, now would it?"

"No…" Ilyana squeaked softly.

Mia nodded and kissed her on the cheek quickly before gently lifting Ilyana off of her lap. "Well then, shall we go? Since we're a couple, we should go together."

"We always went together."

"Stop poking holes in my attempts to be romantic." Mia said as she stood and took Ilyana's hand. She smiled brightly and motioned in the direction of the mess area with her head. "So shall we go? I think Oscar should be done with the food by now."

As she watched Ilyana smile and nod, Mia realized that she had made the right choice. She'd just take it like she always did and together, they'd make something special. Something long and lasting that would transcend time and space to become an epic legend among men. She smirked as she walked to the mess area, Ilyana in tow. While something like that would be fun, she wouldn't mind something simpler. There was another rumble and Mia flushed a little when she realized it was coming from her own stomach.

Well, first they'd have to eat.

'_Eh,'_ she thought, _'just one small step at a time.'_

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So? How was it? I've been slacking really heavily with my writing and it's getting hard to get back into the groove, so I'm not sure how well this turned out. I do hope that you enjoyed it, however. If you have any comments, suggestions, or advice, just leave me a review. Or leave me a review anyway to boost my ego or something. Who knows? Maybe it'll get me to actually finish something on this site. Until next time!


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